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Be a Sonia didi to someone...

As a part of a wonderful volunteering program at our workplace, i had the opportunity to spend the day at a YAR (Young at Risk) project run by the Don Bosco Trust in South West Delhi. This is essentially a set of kids from homeless families who've been uprooted two years ago in a slum demolition exercise and have found shelter under an overbridge.

Over 30 families with approximately 250 odd people live in the rat-infested, environmentally challenged open space. Around 10-15 kids managed to get admitted to government schools nearby - a task made difficult by the absence of birth documents which were destroyed during the demolition. All this is due to the efforts by the Don Bosco incharge for their project - a 25 year old girl Sonia. And this today - is her story.

At the age of 6, Sonia witnessed her brother being killed in front of her and soon after ran away from her abusive family environment. She managed somehow to land with an orphanage and foster parenting program run by the Don Bosco trust in West Delhi. Growing up with them, she worked hard to study and even managed to get admitted and graduate with a Diploma in Hotel Management. Since she turned an adult, she had to fend for herself yet again and found a job at a hotel as well.

Life took a turn for her yet again, when one day during a conversation with a senior priest from Don Bosco, she realised they were looking at setting up this project and jumped at the chance to come right back to where she started her life off from. So 5 years ago, she joined the trust to set up and look after the day shelter program of educating street children.

Her life today revolves around ensuring that more and more kids can join and stay on at school - because she firmly believes that only education can give these kids a different life than their parents. She is also the harbinger of a normal life to the ones who for many reasons haven't been able to join a school yet. Everyday from 9 am to 8pm, her day is built only on the hope that providing a supportive environment will motivate the families to take education as the escape route from their abject current scenario. She faces lawsuits against her by the government for intervening in the demolition and many other legalities. But when you meet her - you'll only see a really warm smile. Look a bit deeper and you will then see the steely determination in each action of hers. She rules with an iron fist getting the kids to be self-reliant and disciplined about their meagre possessions and tasks around the shelter home. She helps them with everything a parent would do normally - from bathing to washing their clothes to feeding them and even helping them with their homework. There's a benevolence in that iron rule of course which makes the kids listen to her and trust her - day in and day out. Its a curious mix of hope and realism at work which makes this relationship so so unique.

Spending a few hours with her and the kids yet again reminded me of the realities of life which our current almost 'antiseptic' environment keeps us away from. We tend to forget that there's a whole wide world out there whose realities are very different from ours. Being human supersedes everything else - man or woman doesn't matter; let alone the economic strata you belong to. Its extremely humbling to see the effort and impact one person is putting in - whereas so many of us are just floating through life with all the right intentions but very little action.

Equality for everyone in this world is of course a Utopian dream - but i would like to believe that anyone who thinks of themselves as human, tries to do whatever they can in their own sphere of influence to create opportunities for a more equal world. Using excuses of paucity of time or resources are exactly that - an excuse. If there's true intent, there WILL be an opportunity to contribute around you.

In my view, each for equal needs to be truly inclusive - Not just celebrating a gender, but actually recognizing that everyone, without exception, deserves a shot at making something out of their life. Everyone deserves a Sonia didi in their lives. Even a Sonia didi deserves a Sonia didi in her life.




Here's wishing everyone a truly EQUAL time ahead - to making a difference in someone's life, to lending a helping hand and most importantly to treating everyone around us with truly equal grace.

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