Take a walk on the wild side

“How’s it going?” I ask. “Oh please, don’t ask,” says Shekhar, “I had a tough day - a fat schoolgirl got tired and emotional - it was hard getting the last lot through”. Any other problems? “Not really, but I have stopped wearing white on the tours, it’s hard to keep clean,” Javed adds.

“It was strange running these tours in the beginning,” Shekhar reflects. “I wanted to disappear when I saw the cops, I was uncomfortable talking about the beatings and so on. But the other day, a policeman joined our group and started listening in. At the end he reached out and shook my hand. It was a shock, but I guess they are getting to know us differently now.”

We follow our guides over to the rag-picking section, a sulfurously rank compound piled high with stinking rubbish. “Shhh, don’t go too close!” they caution, “We don’t want to make them nervous”. Between the legs of a cow, I see two small bedraggled boys picking through the refuse, looking for plastic stuff, silver, metals, iron and edibles for recycling. Other children carry parcels in the station or clean shoes, some earning up to Rs100 a day in various hustles and tips.

“We just spent everything on movies and snacks.” Others get hooked on sniffing solvents, smoking crack and ganja or drinking rough home-made country liquor. Numbed, addicted children are even more vulnerable to insidious abuses and gut-wrenching humiliations. All of them are prey to scams and predatory exploitations. Within weeks, scratching for food, shelter and safety every day, they are at risk of nutritional deficiencies, respiratory infections, skin diseases, worm infestations, typhoid, scabies, boils, viral hepatitis and severe emotional problems.

All three tour guides are determined to balance their stories of wretchedness with their optimistic plans for their futures. Life in the station is fraught with unspeakable hazards, but they emphasise the pluses too. Strong friendships are built and new families invented in the community of drifting children. For some, it’s very hard to give up their stolen lives of perilous freedom. After making contact with the trust’s 24-hour drop-in centre, also located at the station, Javed remembers his initial difficulties adjusting to the shelter’s structures.

“I was naughty,” he says, which is another reason he enjoys working with newcomers to the organisation these days. It takes a big leap to gather your life together at that age after all. Shekhar is just as philosophical. “I was a street kid, a very good survivor!” he says smiling, “I made sure I fitted in within days. Now it’s a skill I am using for positive purposes in my life.”