Slumdog Saviour

On the face of it,Utsav,a third-year law student,comes across as a regular college-going guy. But pay attention,and you can hear the fire raging in his belly,an undercurrent of fierce conviction in self and determination to transform. “Through this documentary,I’ve tried to expose the khaki terror unleashed on street children in India. Lost Childhood also looks into the role of pillars of the Indian democracy,including the media,” says Utsav,lambasting the “impotent,powerless system rendered useless by votebank politics.” But how did it all begin? “It was after a news channel showed how a boy from Panchkula,Sumit,was picked up by the police and reportedly tortured that I got involved,” Utsav’s been tracking Sumit’s case for three years now. Utsav’s intervention also helped save an orphanage from being demolished in Padiala village,Mohali. In between candle light vigils,Utsav also decided to check on juvenile homes,and his sting operation on Faridkot Juvenile Home was telecast on NDTV. “Extortion,hafta vasooli,illegal confinement,fabricated cases,solitary confinement,thousands of children are languishing in the jail and juvenile homes or being tortured on the streets. Today,India has the highest number of street children in the world,more than 20 million! I had great faith in the system,but it fails us over and over again!” So what do we do? “We turn to the public,and that’s exactly what I’m trying to accomplish through this documentary – create awareness,a dialogue,trigger a public reaction and action. It’s the public’s turn to act as catalysts of change.”

Doesn’t the corrupt system intimidate him? “No,someone’s got to clean up the mess,” he’s all set to march to Delhi and protest.