May we never lose our dreams!

Name: Kokila Vaghela
Age: 12 years
Address: The slums of Carter Road

Dragging along a toy car on a red ribbon, while the other hand tugged at the sleeve of her younger sister, twelve-year-old Kokila Vaghela was humming a tune and sauntering along when we found her around the slums of Khar Danda, Mumbai.

She looked at us enquiringly and spat out the piece of grass she was chewing on, so that she could talk to us. Dressed in a cobalt blue salwaar kameez, this pretty little thing took in all the sights around her with big, sparkling, curious eyes. Eyes that held dreams by the truckload. Eyes that looked at the squalor around her, but didn’t feel a part of it. Eyes that held hope, faith and belief in herself and the world.

This little girl was born on the pavement of Carter Road to a father who sells garlic for a living, and a mother who works at a municipality school nearby. Despite their almost inhuman living conditions, Kokila’s mother makes sure that all six of her children go to school and get an education, in the hope that their lives will someday be better than what they are now. This family of eight live on the pavement of Carter Road. While they have the most coveted of prime locations, and a panoramic sea view, they don’t have a roof…or walls for that matter.

When we asked Kokila what we wanted to be when she grew up, her gaze dropped to her feet shyly, and she mumbled, “Main Miss India banna chahti hoon. Miss India picture mein aati hai, na, isliye.” (I want to become Miss India. Miss India acts in movies, that is why.)
Of course, after she wins the crown, the next step would be acting in Bollywood- not with Shahrukh Khan though, since Kokila doesn’t like him, but with Hrithik Roshan, whom she is a big fan of.

And where one finds such ambitions, the dreams of riches and luxuries are never far behind. When she grows up and makes a lot of money, (which she has no doubt she will), Kokila wants to buy clothes and jewellery, but more importantly, she wants a building, some utensils and a car. She justifies these choices by saying, “Building, kyonki hum log ka ghar nahi hai, isliye. Aur bartan nahi hai zyaada, isiliye. Aur car chahiye, blue waali.” (I want a building because we don’t have a house. And we don’t have utensils. And I want a car, a blue one.)

Her little six-year-old sister and four-year-old brother cling to her legs and giggle when Kokila tells us how rich she will be someday. Older children mill around, and Kokila’s mother tells us how her daughter stays back after school hours to wash dishes, and earns Rs 300 every month. Though she is only twelve, Kokila is an earning member of this household. She doesn’t want to stop studying for a long time yet, saying, “Main bahut padna chahti hoon, achha lagta hai. Aage badhkar kuchh banna chahti hoon.” (I want to study a lot; I like it. I want to progress and become something in life.)

While this girl is still a child at heart and climbs hills and trees with her friends for now, her dreams are very different from theirs. She is not satisfied with the idea of good food and clean clothes, of a roof and a family.
This extraordinary child, hidden away behind the stench and squalor of desperate poverty, dreams of claiming her place in the world, of reaching for the stars, and of bringing them home for all to see!


Name: Kiran Birju Vaghela
Age: 17 years
Address: The slums of Carter Road

When we first spotted seventeen-year-old Kiran Birju Vaghela, he was squatting on the Carter Road promenade, watching the tide go out. He turned lazily to us and looked at us disinterestedly with his dark, passionless eyes. Kiran was born in Mumbai and lost his mother to an illness when he was seven years old. Since then, he and his elder brother have been working, doing odd jobs to support themselves and their father. They live on the pavement between Carter Road and Khar Danda in Mumbai.

“Humara baap kuchh nahi karta, daru peeke pada rehta hai. Aur khaata hai.” (Our father doesn’t do anything- he drinks alcohol and lies around, and eats.) says Kiran, a spark of anger flashing in his eyes. The two brothers had to give up their education when their mother died, and have been the family’s breadwinners since then. Kiran Vaghela works as a helper with a caterer who caters at weddings, a job that’s all right for now, but hardly enough to sustain his family. The fact that his brother also works with the same caterer makes things a bit easier for him. However, both boys don’t draw a fixed income- what they earn depends on how much work there is, and how much they are needed. Often, when business is slow, Kiran and his brother have to forego dinner in order to cater to their father’s demands for alcohol.

When asked what he wants to do in life, Kiran stared at us uncomprehendingly. “Kya kar sakte hai? Kuchh bhi. Ghar mein kaam mil jaaye to achha rahega. Ab padhe nahi hai, toh kya sapne dekenge?” (What can I do? Anything. If I find work in someone’s house, it will be nice. Since I haven’t studied, what dreams can I have?)
While he does feel that being uneducated has ruined his chances of making a better life for himself, Kiran realizes that it’s too late now, and doesn’t indulge in either self-pity or regret. His concentrations are all aimed at one thing only- to get from one day to the next. Between his job and his father’s alcoholism, there is no place left for dreams and hopes in this young heart.

Despite his hard life, Kiran makes time for his one passion- films. He just saw Chandni Chowk to China and his verdict was, “Achhi picture hai. Akshay Kumar achha lagta hai. Fighting accha kar leta hai.” (It’s a good film. I like Akshay Kumar. He fights well.) When asked if he also likes Deepika Padukone, Kiran shrugged off the question, losing interest again.

Kiran leans against a parked auto rickshaw and looks out towards the sea. We don’t know what he sees, but can’t help hoping there’s a dream locked away in those young eyes somewhere, and that the big bad world hasn’t killed his spirit completely.