Individual Stories

How Children in India Came to SBT

Firoz Khan

"When I was eight, I ran away from home. After my mother died, my father left. I stayed in my home for two years but then I decided to go to leave. I was taken from the train for not having a ticket and brought to the police. I lived for two months in an observation centre. After that I went to the railway station. I spent a year doing rag-picking and working in a chai stall before coming to SBT."

Pankaj Gupta

"When I was eight my parents separated. My father was a good man but he drank too much. I worked as a child labourer for some time. I had to make glass and it was very bad for my health."

Kumari

"One day it was Holi, the Hindu festival of colors. We came home at about 9.30pm after our street circus job. Mum was cooking food. She was also drunk like father. Dad asked her for money, but she refused. She said we had better keep it till tomorrow when it is our holiday, so better use it tomorrow. But he didn't agree and beat her up and took the money she had. Mother got angry - she poured kerosene on herself and looked for a matchbox. We had hidden it but she borrowed one from the grocery shop and set herself on fire. When I came to Delhi I faced a lot of problems as I had no money, no food and no place to spend the night."

Jagannath

"I lived with my family in Calcutta. My family forced me to work on our family field. One day I took 500 rupees from my home and bought a train ticket to New Delhi. After I arrived I spent six months at a night shelter in North Delhi. A woman took me to Punjab where I stayed for another six months. I worked without getting paid and got really frustrated of living my life as a slave. One day a friend who worked at the same place but lived in SBT introduced me to SBT."

Ashna

"I stayed with neighbours for three or four years. They supported me as much as they could. Finally they sent me to Delhi telling I have some relatives here. I came to interstate bus terminal. I spent the whole afternoon waiting for relative. But nobody turned up."

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