Nikhil Shetty of St Lawrence High School (Kandivli) set a Mumbai Schools Sports Association-Mumbai Indians inter-school U-14 high jump record in the inter-school athletics at Goregaon Sports Club yesterday
Nikhil rewrote last year’s mark of 1.71 metres — set by Anil Kumar Sahu also from St Lawrence — with a 1.72-metre jump. Shubham Patekar of St Lawrence finished second with a 1.46m jump while Rishab Patel of Children’s Academy (Thakur Village) was third (1.46m).
Moist eyes
But Nikhil, who was at the centre of attraction, was seen sitting quietly at one corner with moist eyes.
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For the record: Nishit Shetty clears the bar to set a new high jump mark at Goregaon Sports Club yesterday. Pic/Nimesh Dave
Asked about his father’s profession, the 13-year-old broke into tears. “My father is a bar waiter. I feel ashamed to tell anybody about my dad’s profession.
“I have never disclosed this to my friends or my teachers in school. I simply say that he is a cook in a hotel,” Nikhil told MiD DAY while wiping tears.
He was barely four years old when his father Dinkar relocated to Mumbai from Udipi in Karnataka in 2005.
New to the city, the Shetty family had some tough times with no source of income.
Even after a frantic search, Dinkar failed to find a decent job and was forced to join as a waiter in a Kandivli bar.
Best education
But Dinkar always wanted to give his sons — Nikhil and Nitin — the best possible education and so got them admitted in St Lawrence (Kandivli).
The family currently resides in a chawl near Samta Nagar.
“I just came from a village in Udipi. I didn’t have the kind of degree that could get me a white-collared job. I worked hard in the bar to take care of my family. I never told my children about it.
“But when they grew up, they started questioning and I was forced to divulge. I got my sons admitted to a renowned school so that they can lead a better life in future. My monthly income is Rs 7,000 which I spend on my kids’ education,” Dinkar added.u00a0
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