Children's Stories 3

I came to Delhi with my mother and her second husband. I was seven then. I am thirteen now. My mother abandoned me at the bus terminal while I was fast asleep and I have not seen her since.
Suddenly, I was an orphan. I met some boys who used to beg at the station and I joined them in begging to feed myself. I did not have a name, so friends started calling me Rajan, which means the king.

I started wiping cars when they stopped at a red light. After a while we moved to Connaught Place, the main shopping area in the capital, where we started picking rag. I also worked in a roadside eatery for a while.

While working there I met people working for a charity that help destitute children, called Jamghat. I work for them now.

I am quite happy here. Even if I find out where my mother is I will not return to her.

I am studying. I am also learning sewing, not neatly but now I can write letters to some extent. I like cricket. I went to Pakistan recently to play. It was an event called Cricket for Peace.

Police have beaten me several times. They beat me once while I was sleeping. I do mime for the Jamghat in which I portray what the police do.

Whenever I feel like rambling I go to my old hangouts. I still see my old friends. I take a bus but do not pay the fare.

I have seen the whole capital without paying any fare. I have travelled to many cities without a ticket. I have been to Mumbai, Haridwar and Dehradun.

I am living with kids like myself and I am very happy. I think I will study well and then help children like myself.