We arrive at a remote little village where Raju lives, having been restored to his family in 2020. His granny is almost 100 years old and is, without question, the head of the family. Widowed more than sixty years back, she holds a pension from Indian Railways, allowing her to provide for her grand- and great grandchildren. 

Their rural, rented house is in an area known as “the rice bowl “of India, with its fertile land producing crops that feed many millions. The produce is loaded onto trains each day in the nearby station and sold on the streets of Kolkata and beyond.

Granny is so alert and welcomes us to their humble, but spotlessly maintained, home. We learn of her love of birds, her ability to deliver two babies at home in the previous year, her love of family and her fears for their future after she passes. Raju is thrilled with his new bike which will carry him on the twenty-minute journey to and from the local school. At almost 15 years of age, he has grown tall and lean and seems content with family life in rural Bengal. Our educational support will continue for Raju who joined the Bekind Boys Home in 2012. 

We stopped, on our return, not far from Raju’s village for a quick snack. Pulling in on a strip of land between a pond where some children were swimming and the railway line where an old man was sitting outside his shack. He and his wife were drying pumpkin seeds and would eke out a living by selling them in the market. They were delighted when we shared our lunch with them and even happier when we gave a few Rupees for allowing us to park our car beside their home. 

A return to Kolkata is always enriched when reuniting with my friends, the Guptas. Anil was busy at his desk when I arrived and being watched over by his late father’s portrait. It reminded me of the story his Dad told me when I was fortunate to meet the elderly gentleman several years back and his vivid memories as a young man, of the bombing of Kolkata by the Japanese Air Force during the Second World War. He described the roar of the engines and the sight of low flying “silver birds”, most likely Mitsubishi Ki- 21’s which were widely used at that time. He heard massive explosions and ran with his friends in the direction of Kidderpore Docks to witness the death and destruction caused by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force on 20 December 1942. Sporadic attacks on the city’s infrastructure were to continue until 1944 with more than 500 deaths and multiple injuries reported. 

Tragically, last year Rohit’s mother died and his grandmother applied directly to the Child Welfare Committee (“CWC”) for custody of her grandchildren. Another journey brought Joydeep and I southwest to the village where they lived. Again, I’m surprised how much Rohit has grown and not surprised to see his personality was bigger than ever! He was always full of fun and devilment with a smile as wide as the Hooghly River. 

Eventually, with new bicycle, crossing fields and ditches, we make it to their humble home. It had been badly damaged, like many of the dwellings in the area, during Cyclone Amphan in May of 2020. Two rooms, one where his absent grandmother sleeps and the other shared by Rohit and his sister and a rabbit and a puppy. The animals dragged reluctantly from under the large double bed and proudly put on show. The boy seemed to relish his new found freedom and not attending school had no regard for regular bed times or indeed rising too early either. He was also very descriptive about one of his favourite pastimes which was catching rats which had taken up residence in the ramshackle roof of his house. He would wrap some sackcloth around his hand and poke at the roof until the terrified rodent would fall into a waiting jar. He would quickly screw on the lid and… well I decided not to ask about the final fate of the long-tailed creatures!

I was to learn that his mother, a Hindu, had married a Muslim and there were many rows and family disputes and persecution. She became very unhappy and unable to cope. Sadly, during Covid-19, in the little room where the brother and sister sleep, she took her life. Her picture is on the wall looking down on her children, the rabbit and the puppy. 

Sanjay’s Mam does some dressmaking and alterations to try and make ends meet. When we met tears flowed as she was very anxious about money and trying to survive from day to day and to provide for her teenage son and little girl. I ordered a pretty Indian dress for my daughter to give a little business. Bekind will continue to cover the boy’s educational costs and the new cycle brought a smile to Sanjay’s face. He was dangerously wobbly at first so I suggested plenty of practice in the laneways near his house before venturing out to school on the busy roads! 

On then for the group to be introduced or re-introduced to our children and staff in the Bekind Boys’ Home. On arrival, I was somewhat concerned to see two uniformed guards outside the entrance. Wondering what was the necessity for all this security, we got closer to these serious looking young men only to discover that it was two of our boys who had enlisted for experience in the Junior Kolkata Police Cadets! How grown up and official they looked in their impeccable, smart uniforms. They receive training and instruction every Friday afternoon when school finishes. They boys were so impressed to learn that one member of our volunteer group, Amy, had just qualified as a Garda in the Irish police force.

Late one evening, several of our group returned from the Night Round with the Hope team who call and give support and medical assistance to the many families living on the streets and in the slums. They had to process so much as they had witnessed scenes which I am sure will remain etched in their memories for a long time to come. In one of the many shacks beside the railway tracks in Nimtala they met the mother of a six-year-old boy who had fallen in front of a train. His serious injuries had necessitated the amputation of his leg and arm. He was operated on by surgeons in the Hope Hospital and had been given prosthetic limbs, the child seemed to be coping well despite everything.

Again, it was through the Hope social workers and their contact with the CWC, that permission was granted to have Suraj returned to a Hope protection home. I arrived the next day to accompany him back to safety and sighed a great sigh of relief. The boy’s mother encouraged him, with wagging finger, to study hard. His dad, with a tear in his eye, watched us leave and wished him well. I tried to put myself in his place and to feel how he felt, a man who works hard driving a delivery van every night, taking his four-year-old little girl with him so he could mind her safely and yet not being able to provide properly for his family – a very hard life. 

Ironically, the little girl, if taken into care before the age of six, would have to be put up for adoption because of the current system. She will remain with her parents for now at least. 

Riya was wheeled out and it was such a special moment as they held hands amidst the chaos at the crossroad. I put my cap on Anne for fear she would frighten the child. 

After some time, an auto-rickshaw arrived and ferried us back to the main road. Then, on by bus to the Hope Hospital for treatment. 

And so as 2022 draws to a close and the season of goodwill is upon us a new cycle of life has begun for a little boy of eight years who was placed with us a few days back. He had run away from home and got on a train which brought him to Sealdah Station. Rescued by social workers, it turns out that he had been physically tortured by his stepmother over several years. He had been shackled by the ankle many times, and if he was bold the stepmother would use a red hot poker on him. His little body is covered with the evidence. My blood ran cold on hearing this story as it’s hard to believe this can actually happen now and that such evil exists but it does unfortunately. Little Raj is now safe and away from the physical abuse he has suffered, he’s been restless and uneasy but knowing the counselling, love and care he will receive from staff and his new family of big brothers in Bekind Boys’ Home. He will enjoy and be happy in this next cycle of his young life.