Akanksha Dixit/Delhi. You must have heard many inspiring stories of children’s struggle in cities. But today we are going to tell you about a girl from Delhi, whose struggle is full of pain. This girl’s parents died when she was just 4 years old, the elder sister committed suicide in shock. The elder brother went into depression and became an addict due to the death of three people in the house one after the other. But this girl did not lose courage. She started picking garbage on the streets of Delhi, so that she could get food to fill her stomach. She studied on the strength of her hard work and courage. She took admission in a hotel management course, but left that too. But her dedication and courage is such that today she is the head chef of a well-known European restaurant in Delhi.
This is the story of Lilima Khan, who is the head chef of Dear Donna restaurant. Lilima shared her life story in a conversation with Local18. She told that she was born in a poor family. She was just 4 years old when she lost her parents. After this, she started living with her elder siblings. But a mountain of sorrow broke on her when her elder sister committed suicide due to some reason. The death of three members of the family one after the other had a bad effect on the children. The biggest impact was on Lilima’s married brother who was older than her, who went into depression and became a drug addict.
Elder brother went to jail, aunt took the younger one
While talking to Local18, Lilima told that her elder brother sold the house in a drunken state. After this, he was sent to jail on charges of theft, so Lilima and her 2-year-old younger brother were left alone again. After a few days, Lilima’s aunt took her younger brother with her, after which Lilima became completely alone. She told that after no one was left in the house, a woman living in the slum gave shelter to Lilima. Many other children also lived there.
Garbage collection work from 4 am
Lilima told that the woman living in the slum used to wake up all the children at 4 in the morning and send them to collect garbage from the streets of Friends Colony. In return, we were given food. Due to hunger in between, many times they had to take out food from the dustbin and eat it. Lilima told that it was as if they had nothing to do with education and school. The situation was such that they even had to beg at the red light of New Friends Colony.
Chetna took care of Udayan…and life changed
After all these troubles, finally there was a positive turn in Liliima’s life. Liliima met Pramod, an activist of Chetna, an NGO working for the rights of street children. From here she went to Udayan Care, an orphanage in Chittaranjan Park where there were facilities for studying. Everything started getting better when suddenly one of Liliima’s aunts came to take her from the orphanage. She took Liliima home with her, but the child did not like the environment there. On the contrary, if she did not work at her aunt’s place, she was beaten up. So once again Liliima left from there and now she has reached Kilkari Rainbow Home in Kashmiri Gate. She lived here for about 18 years and completed all her studies while living here.
This is how Lilima became a head chef
Lilima told Local18 that while staying at Kilkari Rainbow Home, she came to know about Creative Services Support Group (CSSG). This group helps children above 18 years of age to become self-reliant. With the help of this group, she got a job in a hotel on Lodhi Road. After that she worked in many hotels. After working in many hotels and restaurants for a long time, she got the job of head chef in Dear Donna European Restaurant. Lilima says that her first salary was only 5000 rupees. Today she is earning 65 thousand rupees a month.
Tags: Delhi, Local18, Womens Success Story
FIRST PUBLISHED : May 27, 2024, 19:55 IST
