ensure that they have access to their rights and are reintegrated with society. Anubhav have this endearing ritual which involves welcoming every visitor into the centre with a traditional Indian welcome along with tying a thread on their wrist to signify a bond of commitment to the cause of protecting and safeguarding children. Based in an area dealing in industrial scrap metal and other waste, Anubhav‘s drop in centre stands out in a sea of slum houses amidst much squalor. A ground floor structure with two rooms, the drop in centre meets the immediate needs of children in terms of health care, education, vocational training, recreation as well as outreach and sensitizing civil society members on the issues of child protection.  Anubhav was started by a group of street children themselves and has been working in collaboration with Railway Children an international development agency supporting partners and networks on the issues of children at risk around transport terminals with the key themes of early intervention and family reintegration.

Although the children had not seen any of Ashley‘s movies, they were aware that she was a ‘big movie star’.  Honestly, they could not care less about it but cared more about the infectious warmth she exuded as she shook hands with all of them one by one patiently asking their names. There were more than 25 boys that day in the age group of 6 – 20 years as they clamoured for her attention, the older ones pretending as if it did not really matter. Gradually she walked into the other room with two of the boys one who was 10 years old and the other slightly older at 16 years and began listening to their stories.

As Ajay the younger one settled into her lap, he drifted into the past as Ashley warmly stroked his head from time to time. Ajay who was about 10 years but looked much younger stayed until a year ago in a small village in Uttar Pradesh (Northern India) with his father, step mother and five siblings. Most of the time his father spent time away from home seeking alms in response to singing or playing a musical instrument.  His step mother would beat him in anger and one day Ajay and his brother thought that ‘anywhere else was likely to be better than home’ and ran away from home. They got on a train not knowing where they were headed and spent almost 3 months on different train stations in and around Delhi. Stations in India are a world in themselves – in many key locations in India there are groups of children who get sucked into a vortex of drug addiction, exploitation, sexual abuse, cheap labour, petty crime and much worse. If not reached out to early, the child seeking security is rudely transformed into a hardened child like adult who keeps changing his identity, lives in constant insecurity and does not have a sense of future. His overall sense of helplessness is masked by a false congeniality and hidden under a veneer of over confidence.

Ajay had not internalized this script of living on the edge as much and in three months time of spending time away from home, scrounging for a living was met by an outreach worker of Anubhav. It‘s been a year that he is staying with Anubhav keen to not return home. With pride in his voice, he told Ashley that he had been enrolled into school and was studying in grade 1 as he had dropped out of school and now cherished ambitions of being a doctor. About why he was with Anubhav, he simply said,” Didi (Sister) and bhaiya (brother) care for me, that ‘s why.” 

Ashley moved on talking to other children - their voices echoed similar stories – difficult conditions at home, drifting away from home, coming to the railway station, getting sucked into the sub culture of the railway station, exploitation by adults etc. With some of the older boys, Ashley shared her own struggles of coming to terms with drug abuse and sexual abuse as she kept encouraging some of the kids to live ‘one day at a time’ and to recognise that some of the things that happened ‘to them were really not their fault’ . Encouraged by these really warm heartfelt messages, the kids welcomed her into their world as they shared a lot of intimate details about their lives. After a while, the children enthusiastically danced gingerly initiating Ashley into Bollywood style dancing. All of them laughed as their eyes laughed in tune and the day moved into dusk.