Experiences provide a man with the wisdom to face the challenges of life with more confidence. A man who has struggled a lot in his life can’t neglect the sorrows and sufferings of people around him. The birth of a Good Samaritan begins when he seriously thinks about ways of helping needy people. Little Ruval had his primary education from a local school in Kalluvathukkal. But his unique name had won him so much popularity among peers and teachers, even though he had no signs of richness with him. Mansingh, his elder brother’s name, was also a unique one in those days in Kerala. Little Ruval was so lucky to taste the love and care of his teachers as he had starved for the love of a father. His own father had left his family when he was only a newborn baby. Sudha, his mother, a cashew factory worker, struggled a lot to look after his two children and meet the day-to-day expenses. Hence she had to search for additional income by engaging in another job after returning from the cashew factory. Thus, she used to accompany her own mother to the nearest rock hill situated on the side of the national highway for breaking stones as revenge against her merciless husband. This rock hill was the main workplace of the local people in Kalluvathukkal, as they earned their income by breaking stones. Besides, local people were also gifted with two cashew factories providing jobs to hundreds of helpless women. The sounds of breaking stones and cashews were deeply rooted in the hearts of most of the people in Kalluvathukkal, as it was inextricably linked with their livelihood.
Little Ruval was pained to see the hardships of his mother in sustaining the family, so the sixth standard student Ruval also took a hammer in his hand to break the stones. After completing the job of breaking stones, he used to run to the nearest ice factory to fetch water. Every morning and evening, except during school hours, this school student used to engage in different sorts of jobs. On Sundays, he used to shift his workplace to Parakkulam, and one could see little Ruval engaging with a small group of boys washing vehicles. After sharing the earnings, he used to earn 2 to 10 rupees, depending on the size of the vehicles.
Ruval had grown into one of the main laborers in Paramala while he was a tenth standard student. His battle with the harsh realities of life had forced him to engage in even riskier jobs. He loaded rocks on his head from the pond to the side of the NH. Engaging in risky jobs, Ruval tried his best to focus on his studies as well. He spent even the late hours of the night completing his studies, as he was not ready to deviate from punctuality. Hence, the love of the teachers also doubled. In those days, the SSLC exam was one of the important turning points for students. Ruval was also seriously preparing for the exam. Unfortunately, the day before the much-awaited exam, he had to face a catastrophe in his life – his mother was bitten by a snake. Her condition was so critical that he had to spend nearly 3 months in Thiruvananthapuram Medical College to take care of his mother. He had to stop his studies as he had to take on the responsibility of the family. After his mother was discharged from the hospital, he began to engage in all sorts of jobs like construction worker, rock-loading laborer, thorn wire fence worker, auto driver, and so on.
One day, the young Ruval set out for Gujarat with a lot of expectations. But his days in Gujarat were worse than those in his native place. He worked in construction fields and could only earn 40 rupees per day. The money he earned was barely sufficient, as he needed 50 rupees to meet his daily expenses. He continued his miserable life in Gujarat for nearly 2 years and 6 months, which also caused him financial liabilities. However, during this period, he learned and managed all the construction technologies for building excellence. He realized that it was the best time to return to his native land. After reaching his homeland, he first stepped into the real estate sector with his friend Kabeer Parippally. In the same period, he got married as well. By this time, circumstances improved, and life began to travel smoothly. Then he stepped into the construction field. The knowledge he had acquired from Gujarat helped him a lot in this new arena, and he launched his new enterprise, Samudra Construction Company. Now it has become a well-known construction company and has already completed construction on more than 650 houses, as well as numerous shopping complexes and school buildings. Ruval Singh’s craftsmanship in construction was so amazing that he himself handled all the important roles, including engineer and supervisor, even while construction work was going on at more than thirty sites simultaneously. Samudra is moving forward, focusing on its hallmarks: Accuracy, Loyalty, and Quality.
In the meantime, Ruval Singh stepped into more new fields, starting a dairy farm, timber mill, welding shop, and a furniture shop. The furniture shop and welding shop are still functioning well. He also arranged a well-equipped studio and media room with all the modern facilities on the top floor of this building.
Ruval’s own experiences had really changed him into a real lover of humanity. He realized that there were a lot of worthwhile things to do. He is spending the lion’s share of his income in the field of charity. Now he is the owner of an ambulance providing free service to the needy, partly to keep in memory the difficulty he faced in getting a vehicle to take his snake-bitten mother to the hospital. He also used to organize Free Eye Examination Camps as a joint venture with Thirunelveli Aravind Eye Hospital. These Eye Camps are organized monthly to keep the memory of his dearest grandma who had taken care of his family when they were left by his father. Later, she lost her vision fully, and it was so painful for Ruval to see his lovable grandma confined in the world of darkness. About 10,000 people have already participated in these camps and benefited, including eye surgery patients who have no financial liability, as eye examination, surgery, traveling expenses, food, accommodation, etc., are fully free. How can Ruval forget the sorrows that he experienced during his childhood days due to poverty and the adverse circumstances that forced him to stop his studies without appearing for the SSLC exams? That is why he is extending helping hands to a large number of needy school children by providing learning materials, dresses, and financial assistance. He is also helping many poor families. He also used to distribute free uniforms to the headload workers and auto-rickshaw drivers in Kalluvathukkal, to keep in memory of his own old days. He is also taking initiative to give platforms to school children to showcase their innate potentials, hence he is arranging competitions for school children in various items like drawing, quiz, poetry recitation, etc. Rohini, his wife, and children, eighth standard student Senagal and fifth standard student Samudra, are with him, rendering all support and encouragement to his charitable works.
In 2017, Ruval Singh laid the foundation of Samudra Charitable Trust under the guidance of his friend Kabeer Parippally, with the sole purpose of focusing activities on charity and social work. A beautiful house was built for the snakebite victim Indrajith’s family in Kottaykkeram ward in Parippally at the cost of 7 lakhs, and it was only a small chapter in his Samaritan activities. The Trust is engaging in a series of humanitarian activities since its formation, such as providing financial help to the underprivileged for treatment, constructing houses, supporting marriages, distributing sewing machines, providing Onam kits, newspapers to schools, implementing road safety measures, promoting arts and literary activities, and honoring distinguished personalities, among other things.
The Trust is adding more and more feathers to its cap by also engaging in emergency relief activities, such as distributing essential commodities to the people in the recent massive flood-affected areas. A Challenge Campaign was also organized under the caption “Give 10 and Save a Life” to provide relief to cancer patients by opening a bank account in the name of the beneficiary. Details of three cancer patients will be published each month, and the public can contribute to the accounts, starting from a minimum of 10 Rs. If the account of the patient can’t collect ten thousand rupees within 10 days, Ruval himself will take the balance amount from his own purse, and the same will be handed over to the beneficiary. The campaign is still going on very successfully. Once his mind was distressed as he happened to see his friend’s father, who was injured in a road accident, in blood-stained clothes in a hospital. Later he realized that the same was the case for most of the injured people in road accidents. Then Ruval seriously thought about the case of the road accident victim during nighttime, and this sowed the seeds of the installation of the ‘New Clothes Cupboard’ in the Security lounge of Parippally Medical College Casualty Section. One can take dresses from this cupboard for the injured persons in accidents without anybody’s permission. The Trust volunteers will fill the cupboard with new clothes as it empties. This new endeavor of Ruval Singh has been widely acclaimed by the public, and he is so happy that this model is being copied in several other places as well.
All the good minds in his homeland stood with him, rendering wholehearted support when he decided to start the Old Age Home. The support of our native people is a major source of strength to us, and the Samudratheeram family is also totally indebted to them. The dedication and tireless efforts of a group of youngsters are also exemplary. All people stood united behind this noble initiative without any party and political bias.