Giving Children a Chance
Starting from today
we begin a series documenting the stories of children admitted to SPYM's de-addiction
centres. In these we tell you what made them leave their homes, about their travels
and travails and how they were found and finally brought to SPYM for
detoxification and rehab. We trust our readers will help us help these children
from marginalised and often broken homes to enter the national mainstream and start
a new life free from drugs, want and fear.
(Please note that all names have been changed to protect identity.)
KADUPPA
This
15-year-old, unlike most others in rehab, always looks cheerful, and has an
appealing sense of humour. What’s more he is a diligent lad, and spends hours helping
with housekeeping work at SPYM’s Delhi Gate centre.
Kaduppa
ran away from his home in Chennai (he still calls it Madras) because his step father,
an alcoholic, beat him up every day. But now he plans to go back. Asked whether
he is not afraid of getting thrashed again Kaduppa grins impishly. “Now I will thrash him,” he says laughing.
Kaduppa, who
travelled ticketless, says he boarded the wrong train. He had planned to go to
Jhansi to work at a dosa stall about which he had heard from a neighbour. Instead
he landed in Bhopal. There he met a man who heard his story, and after giving
him a hundred rupee note urged Kaduppa to go back to Chennai. “I took the money,
but spent it on puris and biris during the journey. I did finally
get the train for Jhansi.” To avoid the ticket checker Kaduppa says he spent a lot
of his time in the washroom.
But in
Jhansi the owner of the stall turned out to be no better than his father, and
though he worked hard he was abused and thrashed until he again decided to
leave for some other place. This time he boarded a train that was bound for
Delhi.
Kaduppa spent
several days on the platform, begging to buy food, until some staffers from an
NGO spotted him and took him to Shanti Centre, a halfway home for runaway
children. For the first few days he regularly spoke to his mother from the
landline at the centre. But soon his father started raising objections, and one
day in a fit of rage smashed her cell phone.
Kaduppa
was sent to SPYM after someone at the centre overheard him saying that he
longed for a ganja joint.
BRIHEN
This boy
from Agartala in Tripura is also in his early teens, and like Kaduppa ran away
from home because his father would come drunk, smash things around and beat him
up daily. After he couldn’t endure the abuse any longer he decided to flee and
took a train to Delhi. On the railway station he was spotted by members of a
child helpline group who took him to Salam Balak, a halfway home.
At first
he furnished a false name, fearing he might be locked up in jail. But when he
found that he was with people who wanted to help him he came out with his story.
In
Agartala he was thrown out of school after he was found using inhalants, and he
continued with the practice for nearly a year. He also started smoking heavily.
With inhalants, it is common to douse hankies with thinners, whiteners or nail
polish removers and then inhale the fumes via the mouth and nose. Excessive use
can lead to kidney and bladder damage as well as memory loss. Brihen will soon
be examined for possible organ damage.
When we
met him he had been at this centre for just two days. From his sluggish body
movements and confused and fumbling responses to our questions it was clear
that he was battling strong withdrawal symptoms.
Brihen
says he will never go back if he can help it, and plans to become a volunteer at
the centre after his discharge. It is possible to enroll at the centre as a
volunteer after one year. The monthly wage is Rs 5,000, and while it may appear
meagre for some people the work is an opportunity to reengage with a routine,
improve self-esteem and undertake meaningful and productive tasks.
PRADIP
Pradip had been at the Delhi Gate centre for
just six days when we met him.
The 17-year-old
says he did inhalants for just about a month, and he is fairly coherent while
answering our questions.
Even so,
Pradip comes across as a highly intense person and there is a fixed surly expression
on his face. He answers all questions in a kind of monotone, in very short
sentences, and doesn’t gesticulate or repeat himself. After each sentence he
waits for the next question, looking the interviewer straight in the eye.
Pradip
says he never bought inhalants, which like most other children he tried after
watching some in his neighbourhood do it. Instead, he would overpower smaller
children and steal from them.
He says
the feeling he got from inhalants was like no other drug. He was unaware of the
harm it was doing to his mind and body and he would continue to inhale the
toxins whenever he got the chance. At times there were gaps of several days he
says.
This son of
an auto rickshaw driver has an elder brother and three sisters, all in their
twenties. Despite having a family, however, Pradip, does not look excited about
an upcoming parent-children get-together.
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