From seeking alms to prescribing balms: Journey of a child beggar from HP who became doctor
Shimla (PTI): As a child, Pinki Haryan, along with her parents, begged on the streets and scavenged for food in garbage dumps in Mcleodganj. Twenty years and a Chinese medical degree later, she is now burning the midnight oil to clear an exam that will make her eligible to practice medicine in India.
It was in 2004 when Lobsang Jamyang, a Tibetan refugee monk and the director of Dharamshala-based charitable trust, spotted Haryan begging. Days later, he visited the slum cluster at Charan Khud and recognised the girl.
Then began the uphill task of convincing her parents, especially her father Kashmiri Lal, to let her pursue education. After hours of persuasion, Lal agreed.
Haryan got admission into the Dayanand Public School at Dharamshala and was among the first batch of students at a hostel for destitute children set up by the charitable trust in 2004.
Ajay Srivastava, president of NGO Umang Foundation, who has been associated with Jamyang for the last 19 years, said initially, Haryan missed her home and parents but kept her focus on studies, which she realised was her ticket out of poverty.
Soon enough, the results were proof of her dedication.
She passed the senior secondary examination and also cleared the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate). The NEET is an all-India entrance exam for admission to undergraduate medical courses, Srivastava said.
However, the doors of private medical colleges remained shut for her due to the exorbitant fees. With the help of the Tong-Len Charitable Trust in the United Kingdom, she got admission to a prestigious medical college in China in 2018 and has returned to Dharamshala recently after completing her MBBS course, Srivastava said.
After a wait of 20 years, Haryan is a qualified doctor raring to serve the destitute and give them a better life.
"Poverty was the biggest struggle since childhood. It was painful to see my family in distress. As I got into school, I had an ambition to become successful in life," Haryan told PTI.
"As a child, I lived in a slum so my background was my biggest motivation. I wished for a good and financially stable life," she added.
Sharing a childhood memory, Haryan recalled that during her school admission interview as a four-year-old, she expressed her ambition to become a doctor.
"At that point in time, I had no idea what work a doctor does, but I always wanted to help my community," said Haryan who is preparing for the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE) to become eligible to practice medicine in India.
Haryan, whose brother and sister have enrolled in a school after drawing inspiration from her, credited Jamyang for her "slum-dweller to doctor" success story.
"He (Jamyang) had a vision to help destitute and poor children. He was the biggest support system I had while I was in school. His belief in me was a big inspiration to do well," she said, adding that there were several others like her who have made it big in life due to the support from the trust.
Meanwhile, Jamyang said he had set up the trust in the hope of imparting basic education to destitute children so that they can lead a respectful life.
"I did not realise that these children were so full of talent... They have become role models and are inspiring others," he said.
Srivastava said Jamyang believes that children should not be treated as "machines to earn money". Instead, he says that they should be encouraged to become good human beings.
"He has dedicated his entire life to the children living in slums. Several of them, who once languished in the streets, were adopted by him and have today become engineers, doctors, and journalists," Srivastava said.
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Cong takes swipe at PM over India not being part of US-led 'Pax Silica' grouping
New Delh (PTI) The Congress on Saturday said it is perhaps not very surprising that India is not part of a US-led strategic initiative to build a secure silicon supply chain, given the "sharp downturn" in the Trump-Modi ties, and asserted that it would have been to "our advantage if we had been part of this group".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the news of India not being part of the group comes after the PM had enthusiastically posted on social media about a telephone call with his "once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC".
In a lengthy post on X, Ramesh said, "According to some news reports, the US has excluded India from a nine-nation initiative it has launched to reduce Chinese control on high-tech supply chains. The agreement is called Pax Silica, clearly as a counter to Pax Sinica. The nations included (for the moment at least) are the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia."
"Given the sharp downturn in the Trump-Modi ties since May 10th, 2025, it is perhaps not very surprising that India has not been included. Undoubtedly, it would have been to our advantage if we had been part of this group."
"This news comes a day after the PM had enthusiastically posted on his telephone call with his once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC," the Congress leader asserted.
The new US-led strategic initiative, rooted in deep cooperation with trusted allies, has been launched to build a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain.
According to the US State Department, the initiative called 'Pax Silica' aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence (AI), and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.
The initiative includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. With the exception of India, all other QUAD countries -- Japan, Australia and the US -- are part of the new initiative.
New Delhi will host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19-20, focusing on the principles of 'People, Planet, and Progress'. The summit, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South.
Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump on Thursday discussed ways to sustain momentum in the bilateral economic partnership in a phone conversation amid signs of the two sides inching closer to firming up a much-awaited trade deal.
The phone call between the two leaders came on a day Indian and American negotiators concluded two-day talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement that is expected to provide relief to India from the Trump administration's whopping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.
In a social media post, Modi had described the conversation as "warm and engaging".
"We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity," Modi had said without making any reference to trade ties.
