I Found a New Home

Poverty is the root of many evils. Millions of people continue to languish in subhuman conditions. Only a few of them ever get a chance to put their life on an even keel. One of these lucky ones is Sarwan Singh. He  is now 21 years old and  has been in Pingalwara for the last fifiteen years. 

The fate of the Adivasis in India  has not changed much in the last 50 years. Many of these tribes have been living for the last many years in the areas around Ranchi in Bihar. They are extremely poor, have no access to education and continue to live in poverty and squalor. They have never heard about family planning and have any number of children. Sarwan’s family was one of them. He had many brothers and sisters; how many he does not know. They had no clothes to wear and very little to eat. Whenever they demanded food or clothes, they were beaten up. 

Someone told them to move to Kolkatta where they could find work and start earning some money. The family moved to Kolkatta. Poverty, absence of any help, insecurity and lack of education pushed Sarwan’s parents in to the drug trafficking. They themselves became drug addicts. Children were the worst sufferers as they were beaten up almost everyday. 

On hearing the plight of the family, a distant relative came to visit them. The visit was over sooner than expected and the visitors returned to the railway station to go back to their home. Six years old Sarwan had seen some one sympathising with the family for the first time in his life, therefore, he decided to contact them for some help. Stealthily he followed them to the railway station; but was afraid of getting caught by the relatives and sent back to his parents. Therefore, he decided to catch a different train than the one in which his relatives were traveling. He hoped to catch up with them later. For a number of days he kept changing trains hoping to find the relatives but finally landed up in Amritsar. 

Hunger forced him to beg on the platform. Seeing his plight a tea vendor gave him something to eat and in turn Sarwan started working for him. The tea vendor found the boy to be sincere and hard working and took him home after about 15 days. Month and a half passed, Sarwan was quite happy. He had to work in the house but at least he had some clothes to wear and food to eat. One day someone told the tea vendor that legally he could not keep the child with him, the police must be informed or the child should be handed over to Pingalwara; a home for the homeless. 

Sarwan arrived in Pingalwara. For the first time in his life he had a real home. He was not required to do any work; the food and clothes were in plenty and like any other child he was going to school. Having cleared the tenth standard, Sarwan has completed a Diploma in Fabrication of Artificial Limbs and is now working in Pingalwara Prosthetic Centre. Happily married he can look forward to a meaningful life. 

There are millions of children like Sarwan. Pingalwara can help only a few of them. Education is a must if the lot of these children is to change. Pingalwara has now three schools offering free education to the poor and destitute. This has been possible only with gracious help from people like you. In future Pingalwara hopes to reach out to more of these unfortunate people with your help and blessings.