Garbage loader by night, scholar by day: His journey from Mumbai chawl to UK for PhD

After completing his Master’s in 2017, Helia went on to pursue his M.Phil from TISS. (Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty)

Helia was 18 when his father, who too worked with the BMC’s sanitation department as a motor loader, died of a prolonged illness, thrusting onto the eldest of three siblings responsibilities far beyond what he had imagined for himself.

In 2010, when he was offered his father’s job on compassionate grounds, Helia didn’t think his occupation would take him far beyond Room No. 5 in Borivali West’s Padmabai Chawl, where he lived with his mother, younger brother and sister. After a failed attempt at his Class 12 Boards, he couldn’t have given himself much of a chance anyway. But his first day at work would prove to be a “turning point”.

“It was a horrible start. I had to pick up garbage from an area where there are several chicken and mutton shops. Since I was new to the job, I wasn’t skilled in the way the bin had to be picked up and tipped. So in no time, I had blood and animal waste all over my clothes. I knew right then that this is definitely not what I want to do with my life,” says Helia, who reappeared for his Class 12 exams in 2012 and cleared them.

Helia then enrolled at Mumbai’s Wilson College for an undergraduate degree in Political Science. Passionate about boxing and after having won a few trophies in school, including one at the state level, Helia was thrilled to make it to Wilson College, among the few colleges to have a boxing ring.

Helia was 18 when his father died of a prolonged illness. (Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty)

“After my night shift from 10 pm to 5 am, I would eat samosa with sambar from one of the stalls and attend morning lectures at Wilson College. After classes got over around noon, I would go home for lunch and catch up on my sleep. Then, I would be back in college for the evening boxing practice, eat 4-5 boiled eggs outside Bandra railway station, and then head to the Loader Chowki for duty,” he says, adding he couldn’t afford to choose between his job and college. “I knew I had to do both.”

It was at Wilson that Helia first heard about the Tata Institute of Social Sciences — “from a classmate who was preparing for the TISS entrance exam”. He says that by then he had resolved to find a path that would help him lead his life with “dignity”.

Helia soon enrolled at TISS for a a Master of Arts in Social Work in Dalit and Tribal Studies. While at TISS, he says, his BMC colleagues, the garbage truck drivers, would drop him off at the TISS campus every morning around 5.30 am. “I would try and get some sleep at a friend’s hostel room and wake up in time to get ready for classes. I hardly went home because I didn’t want to waste time travelling,” says Helia.

After completing his Master’s in 2017, Helia went on to pursue his M.Phil from TISS.

Dr. Shaileshkumar Darokar, Associate Professor at TISS, under whose guidance Mayur completed his M.Phil, told The Indian Express, “Mayur Helia’s background and his rise from a sanitation worker to exploring a completely different career path… his journey is inspiring. While his determination is definitely worthy of appreciation, his rise will inspire many others from his community, who will now dare to aspire to come out of their trapped structural reality.”

As her son prepares to fly out of home early next month, Helia’s mother Shanta Helia, 55, says, “I only studied till Class 7. But I always insisted on good education for my children because that is the only way to a better life. I remember the time when my family was against my decision to enrol my children in English-medium schools. Today, they are proud to associate themselves with us.”