The tale of mythological character Shravan’s devotion to his old and ailing parent from Ramayan had inspired Mahatma Gandhi. A modern day Shravan in Patna could inspire many.

Anisabad resident Pankaj Kumar, 35, has rejected the lure of fortune and success to live with his paralysed father and take care of him for the past 23 years.

Pankaj hails from Kurauni village in Sheikhpura district. In 1990, his father Jugal Kishore Singh, then the principal of a government school in Nawada was diagnosed with a brain tumor.

“My father had to be taken to Delhi for an operation. After the surgery, he was paralysed and has been bed-ridden,” said Pankaj. The prospect of looking after his father did not daunt Pankaj at all. Before coming to Patna in 2004, Pankaj used to work in his small plot of family land as a tiller. “The income was little and there were no facilities for my father. So, I decided to move to Patna,” he said.

At first, he got a job as an insurance agent. Soon enough, he got job offers from outside the state that could have led him to a path of success. But he turned them all down to look after his progenitor.

“I got offers from private companies in Jharkhand and Odisha. But most of the offers were temporary and it would have been impossible to take my father from one place to another,” said the dutiful son.

At present, Pankaj’s monthly income is around Rs 20,000, including the pension of his father and profits from the store of ayurvedic medicine that he has started at his two-room home in Anisabad.

“The store is doing well. Therefore things are a little easier,” he said with a smile.

But he has to spend around Rs 5,000 to Rs 6,000 on medicines and treatment of his father. The rent of the house is Rs 3,000.

Pankaj and his wife Rinku have two children — twins Kalyani and Aadarsh. Both of them are Class VI students at Gyan Jyoti Public School. His mother died in 1995.

Completely paralysed on the right side, Pankaj has to do everything for him. Though he has been doing it for more than two decades things are not smooth always.

“Three years ago (2010), one day while eating, a morsel of food got stuck in my father’s throat and he was choking. We had given up all hope, when I suddenly got the idea to blow into his mouth. Luckily, he was saved,” said Pankaj.

He has a devoted lieutenant as well — his wife, Renu, who helps him take care of Jugal. “She cares for him when I am not there,” said Pankaj.