Tehrunnisa has help pouring in

MUMBAI: She called it her City of Dreams and it took all of 24 hours for Tehrunnisa's words to ring true. A day after TOI reported the struggles of the 48-year-old mother from Allahabad (UP), stranded on the LTT railway platform with her two children Masoodullah and Tamanna who are here to participate in a squash tournament, a deluge of donation pledges and offers to help with accommodation, training and stay poured in.For the trio the world has changed overnight.
Tehrunnisa, a police constable by profession, related how things had suddenly, magically taken a turn for the better. "After we were interviewed last (Wednesday) evening, the organizers came forward to help. They moved us to a guest house in Mahalaxmi on Wednesday night and also took care of our meals. They told us that we should have come forward earlier with our problems," informed Tehrunnisa. "I cannot read English but my children read the papers and showed it to me. All we wanted was for our voice to be heard and our worries to be recognized."
Jay Jhaveri, convenor of the squash tournament, told TOI: "When this family came to the club on Wednesday we came to know that they do not have a place to stay and we immediately arranged for their accommodation. We are willing to extend the same help for any needy player in the future too."
At the venue of the tournament, they were heroes of the day as players and coaches buzzed around with offers of help and practice. "This morning I received two calls from people wanting to help us out. I was completely dumbfounded and thought it was some joke. But they really meant it," she informed as her daughter Tamanna (19) nodded in agreement. "Everybody knows us now. People are coming forward to help us out with the children's game, their technique. There is nothing more I could ask for," said Tehrunnisa. "I thank God for it all."
The best part of their day, however, was when the children got to meet their squash idol Saurav Ghosal who is the top seed in the ongoing tournament. "He shook hands with us and encouraged us to play better and work harder," said Tamanna.
The picture they got clicked with Ghosal will be a memorabilia they will cherish forever.
While both Masoodullah and Tamanna lost their respective matches, the mother was not disheartened. "They both fought. With the amount of training or coaching they have received back home, it is not bad," she said. "They sometimes don't take chances. If you break a racquet by accident it costs us at least Rs 5000 to Rs 7000."
Given the level of interest their story has generated, they will probably learn to play without the fear of losing a fortune when a racquet breaks. As Tehrunnisa and her children now know, some dreams do actually come true.