NEW DELHI: Their lives, as the children of sex workers like to believe, is summed up on a wall that they had painted some years ago at Kat-Katha, an NGO running from a lane behind the GB Road.
The black background depicts the “dark side” of their lives they were born into. Messages they wrote in colourful bubbles are their little dreams, all connected by seven values — Friendship, Love, Prayer, Freedom, Strength, Surrender, and Hope — that bind them together.
“It’s our wall of dreams,” says 23-year-old Taran*.
For the last six years, Kat-Katha has supported about 50 children. Volunteers encourage sex workers to send their children to the NGO office, where they engross the young minds with activities ranging from dance to photography.
“These children come from a community where minimal values, including respecting others, are missing. The centre tries to instil these values in them. However, it’s difficult to make mothers agree that it is not a school, but a place where their children can feel free and be themselves,” avers Kat-Katha’s education leader Stephney Steven.
Taran is associated with the organisation from its early years. Like many of his ilk, getting social acceptance is a struggle for him. “I quit schooling when I was in sixth standard. My classmates often bullied me by asking the ‘rates’ in the area.”
His association with the NGO introduced him to photography, which Taran finds is “healing”. He plans to shoot a documentary on GB Road under his photography group called ‘The Magical Lens’.
Now, Taran is not ashamed that he comes from the lanes of Delhi’s red light area. The youngster wants to stop his family’s ‘tradition’ of pushing its women into prostitution. After all, his mother had faced this ignominy.
Currently, about 18 children regularly visit Kat-Katha with the hope of being away from the dark lanes. Some of them, hopefully, may be able to pursue their dreams like Aman*.
The 21-year-old had left school after completing fifth standard. It was his friend who brought him to Kat-Katha five years ago so that Aman interacted with the people.
The years that followed were an “internal fight”, Aman says. “Initially, I wasn’t able to read anything, though I had studied till Class 5. I realised the importance of education during a seven-month vocational training that I had gone for in Bangalore.”
“The initial three months were very hard for me to live there. I longed to return home every day. However, I decided to stay back and work on myself,” he adds.
Aman is now looking for a job before trying his luck in business. He is also considering applying for a hotel management course.
“Education is not to impart just knowledge, but also to create a curiosity among children for discovering their skills. Once a child finds his/her passion, he/she can take it from there,” asserts Steven.
Kat-Katha is also taking initiatives to bring the women from brothels at the centre and educate them. The project is at its infancy, informs Steven.
*Names changed