Mera Bacha Sabse Acha (Guardian of the little angels) project is very well into its first phase with some positive signs from both, volunteers and the angels. The project found its way into this week with the distribution of clothes to the Angels by their respective Guardians. (All thanks to Preet for the clothes)
Meanwhile, Rajdeep and Bikram also got involved into the project picking up two kids.
Rajdeep-Sher Khan
Bikram - Sapna
As decided in a meeting, every weekend event would be planned around the kids in the “Guardian of Angels” project. The first event according to this plan was held yesterday at the Lake Sukhna in Chadigarh. To be true, this event was first of so many things.
It was our first outing with the kids in the new project. It was their first visit to the lake in the city. It was the first day that we had a confrontation with a cop and finally it was the first time when I felt that our RIGHTS are slaves to the whims of the police.
The day (Saturday) started when I and Preet set off from our houses at 10:30 in the morning to inform the kids about the evening event. After informing the kids in sector 35(the family which lives in a sewerage pipe), we moved to sector 36 market where Rakesh and company are usually found. Fortunately, we didn’t have to wait or were not ditched as on some earlier occasions. They were busy in their so called mundane activities in the market. Some more facts came into light about them at that time. A new kid had arrived on the scene to join the flock. Name – Arjun, brother of Bheem and Nakul(twins and very innocent). Arjun, Sonu and Manoj(Panda) are bullies who snatch money from other beggars and also from the children who roam around collecting money on the name of “Shanii Dev.” Amazingly, we stopped some such kids and asked them whether they knew the meaning of the oil they carry every Saturday. Our guess was right. None of them knew what it really means. They just set out every Saturday morning, extend that container of oil infront of the passersby and people, all thanks to superstition, drop a coin into it. Anyways, on Saturday the three elder kids were more aggressive towards the little ones (Rakesh and Nakul). Shoving and abusing them even infront of us. We segregated the younger kids from the three and I gave a few sermons to Rakesh and Nakul. Meanwhile, Preet tried calling up the Child Helpline for Arjun, Manoj and Sonu. But they all ran away from the spot. We talked for some more time to Rakesh and Nakul. We told them to meet us in the evening and accompany us to the lake. Rakesh had been to the lake with me earlier aswell. They hopped on our bikes and we went to their homes to talk to their parents and take their permission. Nakul’s father is a rickshaw puller and incidentally we met him on the way to their homes. We asked him whether he knew about his kids begging in the market places. He said that he himself was fed-up with them. But we told him that they are just kids and need special attention. We also assured him that from now onwards we are going to take care of the needs of his children. He asked us to talk to their mother. So we moved towards their habitat. It was a typical jhuggi settlement, with filth and dirt everywhere. But we could not talk to anyone. No one was home. Anyways, we just told them that we will come back in the evening and take them to the lake.
Then we spent of couple of hours in the office and finally returned home to gear up for the evening.
Act II - The Event @ Lake
The kids from sector 35 hopped on an Auto-Rickshaw with Preet. Me and Karan geared our bikes, with Rakesh pillion to Karan. We reached Sukhna Lake in some time and re-united with the other children and Preet.
Meanwhile,Shyam,Sudheesh,Bikram,Rajdeep and Kaval poured in one by one.
So the event started pretty well, with the kids brimming with enthusiasm and excitement, just like the majestic Sukhna. We gave them some pop-corns to eat. Preet’s kid Abdul had invented a new pronunciation of Preet’s name – “puhlees” or “police” :)
The fun had just started with the kids enjoying the ducks, the boats, the crowd, the evening and with the volunteers. a gentleman asked us about our organization and also donated a sum of rupees 500 for the cause. We all were having good time and even the crowd moving along were pretty happy that we were doing a good job.
But as they say, you need one “Asshole” to ruin the show. Same happened here. A policeman accosted us started question us and about the kids. I will not go into details, because I just don’t feel like talking about it and this is the reason due to which this post is one day late. You can well imagine what could have happened with the due course of the events. All hue and cry was just coz of one damn illogic from his part. Anyways, we just decided to move away from the spot to a different place to have some solace. We sat there for some more time. clicked a few snaps, had some juice and signed off the day
But I just want to say one thing,
Had the kids been in Nike T-shirts, Pepe jeans and Reebok shoes, nothing would have happened. And we thought, sitting infront of the TV sets, that there are equal rights, irrespective of cast, creed, color and status.
Anyways, we are not perturbed. We have initiated and we will make a change.
Volunteers at the event: Preet,Kaval,Karan,Shyam,Sudheesh,Bikram,Rajdeep,Ankush,Shikha
Angels: Abdul,Muskan,Shamsher Ali,Rakesh,Sapna,Rajeeb,Sher Khan, Mohobbat
"parindon ko milegi manzil ek din....yeh faile hue unke pankh bolte hain. Wohi log rehte hain khamosh aksar, duniya mein jinke hunar bolte hain"
We Initiate...........Do You?????
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