Sajad hails from Down Town Hawal, a locality known for stone pelting during Bandh in Srinagar. His father Jameel Ahmed Misgar is a poor labourer who makes less than Rs 2000 in a month by making copper vessels. Sajad has two younger brothers, who are studying. The complete family is living in extreme poverty. Though keen to be well educated, Sajad had to quit his studies after Class X, since there was no money in the family to afford the school fees.

Forced to drop out of school, Sajad started working as a daily labourer at the construction sites to add to the family income. “I still remember those days, when the per day income used to decide our daily minimum requirements, especially the food. When curfew was imposed in our area, we had to sit idle for weeks without any work, which compelled our family to spend few days without food,” shared Sajad. One day while returning home from work, he came across a poster about the BASE skill development training programme being offered by DB Tech in association with MoRD (Govt. of India). Keen to know more he visited the address mentioned on the poster. On reaching Db Tech Centre he enquired from the trainers how this programme can be useful to him and whether it will help him earn a living for my family. The trainer then explained him giving all the details about BASE course. He was informed that this three-month course would not only teach him a lot about Hospitality, but will also improve his English and communication skills. The trainers assured him that, if he will successfully complete the course, they would even help him find a good job in the Hospitality sector at the end of the training period.

After successfully completing the course, Sajad attended the interview for a job at Cafe Coffee Day and successfully cleared two rounds of the interview. He was appointed by Cafe Coffee Day at a monthly salary of Rs 4500/-. Hearing this, Sajad's parents feel really happy; they are extremely thankful to the BASE program of MoRD that has not only transformed their son's life but of the complete family. “I was very diffident about myself before joining DB Tech”, says Sajad, “but thanks to the training I have received here, now I feel capable enough to face any challenge. Apart from giving me technical skills, it has instilled self-belief in me, which I think is equally important at the workplace. I would advise my fellow-aspirants to make the complete use of the BASE course, and thereby get the best. It is indeed a wonderful program; more centres needs to be set up all over the state”.