The moment children step into their colleges, they start planning their next step of getting placed in a stable job. Working for big, renowned companies is what an individual dreams of. Recently, Facebook page ‘Humans of Bombay' shared the story of a young boy named Shantanu Naidu and how he managed to bag his dream job of working with industrialist Ratan Tata.
The 27-year-old boy's selfless gesture of saving stray dogs and coming up with collars with reflectors for the canines landed him a job with Ratan Tata.
The story of Shantanu Naidu is touching and inspiring and it soon went viral on social media since being posted.
The idea of making collars with reflectors germinated in the mind of Shantanu Naidu in 2014 when he was an eye-witness to the death of a stray dog. After his graduation in 2014, Shantanu started to work at the Tata Group. The incident left him shattered and being a dog lover, he decided to take a step to avoid any such similar incident in future.
"I knew that I had to do something. So I called a few friends and made a collar with reflectors on it, so that drivers can see the dog from afar. The next day, we went around and put these collars on stray dogs. I didn't know if it would work, but when I woke up the next day, I received a message saying that a dog had been saved because of the collar-it felt amazing," the post read.
He said people started to talk about the initiative his work also got covered in the newsletter of the Tata Group of companies. He however said, people were willing to buy the collars designed by him but he did not have any fund to design them. It was then, Shantanu's father asked him to pen a letter to Ratan Tata "since he loves dogs too".
Shantanu said, "I was hesitant, but then I thought, 'Why not?' So I wrote him a handwritten letter and forgot about it."
Shantanu said his life changed after two months after he received a signed letter from Ratan Tata. He said, "When I opened it, it said that he really loved our work and would like to meet me— I couldn’t believe it!"
A few days later, Shantanu met Ratan Tata at his office in Mumbai. "He told me, 'I'm deeply touched by the work you do!' I still get goosebumps when I think of it," Shantanu said.
He further said, Ratan Tata took him to his place to see his dogs and "that's how our friendship began. He also funded our venture!"
Shantu said he left the country to complete his masters but promised Ratan Tata that after returning to India, he would "dedicate" his life working for the Tata Trust.
"As soon as I came back to India, he gave me a call and said ‘I have a lot of work to be done in my office. Would you like to be my assistant?’ — I didn't know how to react. So I took a deep breath, and a few seconds later said ‘Yes!’ Shantanu said.
The motivating, inspiring as well as heart-touching story of Shantanu Naidu inspiring story has garnered over 1,900 shares.
People flooded the comment section of the post reacting to the story. A user commented, "That's really incredible. God bless you. U r truly blessed."
"A small act of kindness has touched so many lives, this is one amazing life story. You are such an inspiration..!" commented another user.
Others praised the "good work" by Shantanu Naidu in helping the dogs.