The Dream Sanjay Left Behind the Gate...and the Life He Built in its Place

“I had no other choice.” Mr. Sanjay says after being asked why he chose to become a security guard. Mr. Sanjay never accepted defeat; instead he rose over it, finding a way to support his family.

Mr.Sanjay ensuring that the students and staff board their buses after the school ends.

Introducing Mr. Sanjay, who is almost 50 years old and has been working as a security guard since 2009. He left behind his dream of becoming an army officer just to fulfill his family’s needs. A person who once dreamed of serving the nation now devotes himself to serving children in a school in Pune.

Before joining Flame University and Avasara Academy as a guard he worked in a company handling basic support tasks such as cleaning, delivering and general assistance.

When looking back at his days at the company he says,

“This was the first step in my journey which changed the way I looked at life.”

While talking about his dream of becoming an army officer, he states that his parents didn’t even allow him to go for the medical round. But still he never pities himself for not being able to achieve his dream.

He says, "Even though I am not protecting the nation but still I am guarding the future of my nation – and these girls are my own children."

He lives in Pune with his wife, an elder daughter, 24, who is working in a WNS job and the younger one, 22, who is currently studying. While sharing about his daughters he says, “I am proud of them, they reached every milestone of life which I could not.”

Moreover, he mentions a moment of his life when he was pleased with all the hard work he did. When his elder daughter went for an interview and was asked about his father’s job and he told them about his role as a security guard, the panelists were shocked that his father was able to educate his daughter despite earning less.

Reacting to this, she said,

“I am proud of my father, he has always been there for me.”

A snapshot of Mr. Sanjay from our interview

Mr. Sanjay is not only a hardworking human but also a great singer and truly cherishes each moment of his life. He goes back home after every 15-20 days, he misses his family during this duration but knows that they are at home safe and sound. Before when his family used to live in Nagpur, he visited them every 3-4 months but he still never regretted choosing this job.

Mr. Sanjay’s journey has not been this simple. A few years ago before joining as a guard his company got caught on fire and there was only one fire extinguisher. Despite this, he managed to extinguish the fire. Such moments of bravery make him what he is today - disciplined, consistent and alert. In addition he advises students to do their work on time because eventually they will have to complete their work so there is no sense in procrastinating it. The only principle of his life is- to be straightforward and always tell the truth. He never hesitates to be honest even though it upsets people. He mentions that,

“People are bound to get angry at you when you tell them the truth, they might even not talk to you for a few days but never lie just to impress them anyhow.”

Furthermore, while discussing his life at Avasara Academy he says, “Even when students come back years after graduating, they greet me with love and respect and I truly love to reciprocate it.” Additionally, he also mentions that students are really friendly with him, a lot of times they share about their day with him which makes him feel like he is talking to his own daughters. After his day ends at 9 pm and all the students go back to their rooms and he turns off all the lights. He checks that all doors are closed and stays alert, ready to help the residential advisors whenever an alarm rings.

Lastly, he concludes by saying,

“Enjoy every single moment of your life — be happy and have fun because life does not come with a guarantee. One day you are alive but the next day you might not be.”

Mr. Sanjay’s story makes us realize life is too short to worry about what others think, just

be bindaas(carefree) and go on living like you are the main character of the story.

Written by Aditi Gupta, Grade 10, Avasara Academy, Pune

Aditi wrote this article as a participant of the Media-Makers Fellowship's Nov'25 cohort.