A YOUNG man who once slept on the streets of Suva for three nights with no food, no money and nowhere to go graduated with a Bachelor of Education (Secondary), majoring in Industrial Arts, from Fiji National University on Monday, May 11, proving hardship does not define someone’s future.
Twenty-two-year-old John Shahil Rangan of Bua, Vanua Levu, said his journey to graduation was marked by sickness, poverty and sacrifice.
Raised in a family that struggled financially, Mr Rangan said he arrived in Suva in 2022 heavily dependent on his Tertiary Education Loan Scheme (TELS)accommodation support and allowance, with little money in hand and no relatives to turn to.
A former head boy of Pandit Vishnu Deo College in Lautoka, he had already overcome major challenges after completing his Form Seven studies from a hospital bed while battling Osteochondroma stage one during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I never thought that I would pass,” he said.
“But I managed to score above 300 and I got the National Topper Scholarship to come and study.”
But coming to Suva brought another battle.
Unfamiliar with the capital city and unable to secure accommodation after hostels filled up, Mr Rangan ended up stranded in the city with his belongings stolen and no money for food.
“I slept for three days and three nights on the streets.”
“My food was only water from the tap close by.”
Mr Rangan said the words of his father, Pandu Rangan, kept him from giving up.
“My dad always tells me, without any qualification, you have no value in the labour market.”
Hope arrived through police officer Napolioni Natadra Berabi, who found him sitting near the Suva-Lautoka bus stand and stopped to help.
“He saw me sitting there with my suitcase and asked me what I was doing there,” Mr Rangan said.
“I explained my story and he just took me home.”
Mr Rangan said the officer, whom he had never met before, gave him a place to sleep, food to eat and even helped him settle into life in Suva.
“He took me around Suva, showed me the roads, the towns and places because I knew nothing about Suva.”
“He bought me clothes, shoes, socks and even gave me his own bus card and phone to use because all my things were stolen.”
Mr Rangan said what touched him most was the kindness shown by someone who owed him nothing.
“It’s not every day you see people picking up strangers from the streets and helping them.”
Their friendship later grew into brotherhood.
Mr Rangan said when Mr Berabi got married, he was chosen as the best man despite the two sharing no family ties.
“I was truly touched when he made me the best man at his wedding.”
“No blood relation, nothing – but today we are like family.”
Today, Mr Rangan is an Industrial Arts teacher at Gospel High School in Suva and plans to pursue postgraduate studies at the University of the South Pacific.
The newly graduated teacher dedicated his achievement to his late grandmother, Kelera Lutu, and remembered the words of late Talatala Jolame Nasilasila.
“Sometimes God puts you through something so that you can become a testimony for others.”
