: Geologist Gives up Canadian Job Life Savings to Run Free School in Rural Village #IndiaNEWS #Education Shiva Balak Misra was a successful scientist living a comfortable life in Canada. At the peak

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Geologist Gives up Canadian Job Life Savings to Run Free School in Rural Village #IndiaNEWS #Education
Shiva Balak Misra was a successful scientist living a comfortable life in Canada. At the peak of his career, he was on a scholarship at the Memorial University in Canada when the geologist discovered a 565-years-old fossil, eventually named after him ‘Fractofusus Misrai’.
So why did he leave it all behind and come back home?
But despite the success, Shiva could never forget the hardships he underwent during his childhood days. The memories continued to prick him like a thorn in his mind.
“I belong to the village Kunaura in Uttar Pradesh and walked 12 km to school during my childhood. However, there was no secondary and higher secondary school in the village. Thus I made a 24 km commute,� Shiva tells The Better India.
Shiva says nine students from his village walked the long distance to the school. But eventually, it was only him who continued, while others dropped out. “The conditions were terrible,� he says.
He did not belong to a well-to-do family but was good at studies. So after entering class 9, Shiva moved to Lucknow to pursue secondary studies. “I started taking private tuitions for students from lower grades to meet my living expenses,� says the 83-year-old.
A life’s mission
Shiva Misra with wife Nirmala and students.
Eventually, he struggled his way to complete a Masters degree in science and bagged a job with the Oil and Natural Gas Company (ONGC). “I started working in 1962 and worked in places like Gujarat, Dehradun and Assam. Some of my colleagues in Assam were applying for a scholarship to pursue higher studies. So I went with the flow to bag one at the Memorial University in Newfoundland, Canada,� he shares.
Shiva flew to Canada in October 1966. The following year he discovered the rare fossil from a place known as Mistaken Point near Cape Rock. “The discovery got published in popular science journals such as Nature and Geological Society of India and other prestigious American publications,� he says.
Life moved on for a few years. But he never forgot the situation back home. “There were 11 other research scholars from India, and we met weekly to socialise. On one such occasion, we all shared our concerns about the famine in India and were thinking ways in helping for the same,� he says.
A couple of weeks later, Shiva met his friends and expressed his desire to return home and start school in his hometown. “I told my friends that opening a school in the village would be my contribution to society. I did not want younger generations to face the same brunt I faced. But they were sceptical about my decision. They said I was leaving a gold mine and losing out on promising career growth,� he adds.

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