|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sadak Chhaap
The book is simple in its
execution, as it is in theme, but the enormity of the issue at hand can’t
be predetermined. The story is fictional, yet it could pass off as a
sordid account of every hapless child on the street. It is an earnest
effort to turn around thinking and make a difference in the way such Sadak Chhaap is the story of 10-year-old Rahul who is destined to flee his village and make the Mumbai footpath his home. He learns the ropes of survival and becomes a compulsive but petty thief. His life changes when he finds an abandoned baby girl at the railway station and decides to be her foster father. The blows of fate are constant in his life and those dearest to him are soon out of reach—his mother, his "daughter", his friend Chandni. Meher is concerned with the four years of Rahul’s life, starting from when he first lands in Mumbai. In these four years, he experiences what most people wouldn’t in a lifetime. He is not content to remain a mere "tapori" and wants to run his own taxi. He gets into the tourist business but is lured into easy money by paedophiles. What ensues is the darkest side of the street story. The child in him can’t get enough of the gifts and the Denim aftershave doled out by foreigners. A nasty and rather humiliating encounter, however, leaves him disgusted and shaken. He finds comfort in drugs and becomes an addict. All innocence is lost when he trains a knife on his revered Karim-bhai for money. After the immense emotional vacuum he faces in life, his vulnerability is understandable. He is saved in time by Aparna and his old friends at Sharan, an NGO for street boys. Detox sessions begin for Rahul, a ghost of his former self. He is counselled against going back to the same life but he insists, with what can only be the stubbornness of a child, that he doesn’t want it to be any different. The pull of fast money is ever strong. As 14-year-old Rahul returns to the tempting Gateway life, one can only wonder if he will be able to retain the innocence in his soft amber eyes. |
STREET life, as it is, can
only be imagined. For some who’ve worked closely for and with children
living off the footpath, the experience assumes a reality that is hard
to shake off. Meher has campaigned for housing rights for slum-dwellers
and greater sensitivity towards street children. Her level of
involvement comes through in the narrative and a parallel is easy to
draw between her and Aparna didi, the anchor for "sadak chhaaps."