Thanks to social media, homeless ‘Oxford graduate’ gets a home in Delhi

A 76-year-old man, claimed to be a graduate of Oxford University, got a roof over his head after spending years on the streets of New Delhi and all it took was a Facebook post.

Avinash Singh spotted Raja Singh Phull on a footpath near New Delhi railway station and shared his story on the social media platform on April 21. Singh wrote that the 76-year-old Sikh man had been living the life of a “nomad” for decades and he just wanted to help him out.

Singh talked to Phull and realised he was a man of honour who would not beg despite being homeless.

“Raja Singh is a staunch Sikh too! He has been attached to ‘Guru Ghar’ all his life! He avoids partaking Langar at Gurdwara Bangla Sahib! “I earn and buy my food. For Langar I need to contribute. If I’m unable I do not have no right to eat there ... [sic],” Singh said in his post.

Singh said Phull earns a living by helping people fill their forms getting “from zero to 100 rupees, sometimes more” in return. He offered to help him financially but Phull was reluctant to accept it.

“God should never force me to beg!” Phull told Singh.

According to Singh, Phull returned to India in the sixties after his brother insisted and “tried hands at various businesses” and was later abandoned by his sons.

“’I did lot of hard work and sent two of my sons for studies abroad,’ he adds! Raja Singh even took loans for his children! Today they are in UK and the US well settled with firangi wives not having time for their father who is living by the roadside in the National Capital!” Singh said in his post.

Singh’s post has gone viral after being shared more than 4,000 times and liked by 3,500 people, who have offered help for Phull.

Phull is now living in Guru Nanak Sukhshala, an old age home in Delhi’s Rajender Nagar, and he was “over-enthusiastic” after receiving help in such an abundance, Singh said.

He added Phull is enjoying his “baigan bharta and kheera (cucumber) raita” for lunch and the pleasure of an afternoon nap.