A heartwarming video of an elderly couple has gone viral on social media. The footage shows the couple at a shop with a cloth bundle (potli) filled with loose change, which they had saved to buy a mangalsutra.
The couple have been identified as Nivruttin Shinde and his wife Shantabai from Maharashtra’s Jalna district. Reports state that Nivrutti collected Rs 1,100 over a month by begging on the streets, saving the money to purchase a mangalsutra—a sacred thread tied around the bride’s neck as a symbol of marriage.
He took the savings to a shop in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. Upon hearing the couple’s story, the shopkeeper showed kindness and sold them the mangalsutra for just Rs 20.
The couple hail from Mantha taluka in Jalna district. To make ends meet, Nivrutti and Shantabai beg near the Gajanan Maharaj temple area.
Tragically, the couple reportedly had two sons. Several years ago, one son passed away while the other struggled with addiction, forcing the elderly pair to leave their home and turn to begging for survival. Nivrutti is now in his 90s.
