A place called hope

And the man responsible for lending the all-important helping hand to these boys, who could well have become delinquents instead, is Devdas Laxman Survasi, a 37-year-old sweeper at the Central Institute of Road Transport, Bhosari. A man who earns around Rs. 4,500 a month and spends every paisa of it on his little orphanage sheltering 26 homeless children.

“The real reason behind starting this orphanage five years ago is that I, too, was an orphan. After my mother passed away, I had no one to turn to.

Nor could I continue with my studies since there was no way I could afford the examination fee of Rs. 30. Then famine struck my village, forcing me to leave it in search of a livelihood. I came to Pune but there was no work even here. Ultimately, I resorted to begging at the Pune Railway Station,” narrates Survasi.

Here, he came in contact with a good samaritan, who helped him land a small job. With his support, the boy worked his way up. Later, he also married the man’s sister. And today, his wife, 28-year-old Chabbubai Survasi, and he run this little ashram tucked away in a corner near Dapodi’s Pilaji Kate Chawl.

Three tiny rooms, leased for Rs. 300 per month, are today home to 25 boys and one girl – all abandoned by their biological parents. While most of them have come here from various social organisations all over the city, many were spotted by Survasi eating from garbage cans or lying on the road.

Today, they have a home with the Survasis (who also have three children of their own). Other than admitting them to the nearby municipal schools, they also see to their food and clothing. Survasi has also been meticulous in maintaining records of every child’s age, native place and subsequent progress.

The children’s day begins at 6 a.m. After cleaning their room and little trunks, the kids busy themselves in filling up water. They partake a simple meal of dahi-bhaat before leaving for school. Coming home for the mid-day meal, the evenings are spent playing cricket, followed by some studies and dinner cooked by Chabbubai.

Yet eking out a living is not easy. Survasi remembers the times he could not go to work because of an illness. “And there was a day when all of us slept hungry – there was not a grain of food in the house.” Over the years, with help from some social workers and sympathetic shop-keepers, the food problem has been resolved. While Chabbubai cooks the children’s breakfast and dinner, for the past two months, Venkateshwara Hatcheries Ltd. has started sending lunch on a daily basis. Nevertheless, every penny earned by Survasi goes towards the cause, with his own tiny home in the next lane being run on his younger brother’s salary.

But perhaps the most daunting test is yet to come, with the landlord desiring the premises of the ashram back. “There are places we could shift to but we have no funds,” says Survasi, who had taken money out of his provident fund five years ago to pay the deposit for the current premises.

“If nothing comes up, I will shift them all to my two-room house,” says the man whose ultimate goal is to provide shelter to 100 boys and 100 girls in his ashram. Till then, his need to repay the debt he feels towards society propels him to continue the good work. And the biggest motivation is the happy smile on a child’s face on being given something that fate threatened to take away – a chance to live.

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