BENGALURU: At 17, Rakesh Chandrashekar Shetty was thrown into the abyss of the pandemic, becoming one of 233 children across Karnataka to have lost both or the lone surviving parent to the virus.Over time, 232 of these Covid orphans found new homes, moving in either with relatives or foster families. Rakesh was the unlucky exception, left to find sanctuary in a govt-run shelter and a semblance of fortitude within himself to make something of his shattered life.Five years on, the now 22year-old engineering student at Bengaluru’s Presidency University looks back at that phase as a test that steeled him for the future.Rakesh lost his father at 10. His mother raised him in a tiny, rented house, taking whatever work she could find — washing dishes in hotels, working as a guard, and even as a labourer in the fields. Then came Covid’s second wave in April 2021, taking away the only anchor in his life.“I was shattered. I contracted Covid too, and was in quarantine for a month after my mother’s death. I would be alone in our rented room for days on end, my mind blank. I had no idea what lay ahead,” he said. He had some relatives, but no one was willing to take him in.Someone then suggested the Darshana Open Shelter in Dharwad. From there, Karnataka State Commission for Child Rights moved him to the state-run Bala Mandir. “That is when I realised there are also good people in the world,” Rakesh Chandrashekar Shetty told TOI . “Bala Mandir became my family. The child protection department has been helping me since. If ever a child has no place to go, this is the place. They take good care.”The shelter provided the stability he needed. Rakesh completed his ITI course, enrolled for an engineering diploma, and eventually got lateral entry into Presidency University’s BTech programme. He now lives near the campus and spends holidays in his school friends’ homes. “My mother always wanted to see me as a good, successful person. I strive to become that. Whenever I face a challenge, I think about the phase I have been through. I survived the worst. I can face anything else in life,” he said.Rakesh’s support network now extends beyond the shelter home. He receives a monthly stipend of Rs 5,000 under PM-Cares and is entitled to a corpus of Rs 10 lakh when he turns 23. Politicians Santhosh Lad and Prahlad Joshi fund his college education. “My school friends have seen my struggles. I am welcome at their homes,” he said. “I also visit Bala Mandir during breaks.”After graduating, Rakesh aspires to join the merchant navy. It’s the kind of ambition his hardworking mother would have approved of: a young man sailing the seas and weathering every storm.
