In the BDD Chawl behind the erstwhile Hindmata theatre (now a mall) in Dadar, the Family Home charity has, for 35 years, run a home for 20-26 boys, aged 6-12. They are mostly homeless children (a few do have family, but they are unable to care for them), rescued by NGOs and sent to government rehabilitation centres after registration with the family court. The government assigns these boys to junior homes such as the Family Home, where they are looked after until they turn 12. They are then reassigned by the government to senior homes.
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Though the exterior of the chawl is somewhat drab, the kids are bright and cheerful, as are most of the 10 spacious rooms that have recently been renovated. The boys are always up to some mischief; Sitesh, a six-year-old, sticks up his fingers to create bunny ears when he sees the camera. During study time, one boy insists on climbing over the desks, another yells a study-related question across the room to his friend, a third tells me his friend is a jabber-mouth—all indicating healthy, relaxed interaction.
Smita Gaikwad, matron (or “home mother”), says that a year ago, all the kids were transferred from a municipal school to a local private school, and there’s already a huge difference in their learning and overall well-being. The boys agree, and continue to chat about the movie they saw over the weekend, their yoga, music, karate and drawing classes. Chetan, 11, whose friends call him “drawing master”, proudly pulls out his drawing book to show off some neat artwork.
A team of six boys, aged 10-12, joins me in cooking —making a simple dessert of chocolate laddus using Marie biscuits, cocoa powder, butter and condensed milk. The team enthusiastically follows all the steps, from crumbling the biscuits to making the circular balls, though undoubtedly the most joyful moment comes when they can lick their fingers and scrape the bowl clean of leftover batter. Pratik,11, sweetly suggests to his mates that they should make the laddus smaller, so that they can each get more to eat!
As we walk from room to room, I notice four computers sitting untouched on a desk—gifts from well-meaning donors. These were given to the home over a year ago, but without technical assistance, software upgrades and a system in place for computer education for the kids, they lie idle. The children, of course, would love to learn to use computers and, like kids everywhere, they’re keen to play with electronic gadgets, as they do when I leave my cellphone on the table for a few minutes.