December, 29, 2018 Moula-Ali Hyderabad
Vatsalya Sindhu: A Fresh Start and a Better Life Written By: Aditya Khera
Students at the Vatsalya Sindhu hostel talk about their own lives and difficulties
On December 29, 2018, I had the privilege to meet with some of the residents of a boy’s orphanage in Moula-Ali, Hyderabad. With around 55 students and orphans, the Vatsalya Sindhu orphanage provides food and a place to stay for children and gives them the opportunity to study. While talking to them it was clear that they love this facility they stay at and the students who have become their second family. Students range from standard 1 to standard 12 and all stay under the same roof. After talking to a few of the elder students, it became clear that there was an unspoken rule to take care of the younger students. In a way, the older students had taken the role of elder brother and father at the same time. The older students functioned as both by being a friend and a role model. By both playing with them in their free time and teaching them in their
December, 29, 2018 Moula-Ali Hyderabad
work time, the elder student has shaped the social structure of the orphanage to mirror that traditional family. The younger students clearly took notice of this as well and began to refer to these elder students not just as friends or roommates, but as ​anna, ​elder brother. This nurturing and caring environment where the children live and play in has changed who they are as persons. While talking to the students, their bubbly and happy personalities were on full display and it is clear that their environment had a key impact on it. When talking to some of the students they were very open about their lives before coming here. A trend started to emerge around their answers and often times they told of how they were shy towards others when they first arrived. The orphanage and its collaborative environment helped make them more outgoing. The close corners the students lived, worked, ate, and played in fostered a mentality and personality that clearly showed great personal growth. While speaking to a large section of the residents, around 30 children, they began to ask me about my interests and opened up about their own. While their lives mostly consist of studying or playing, the residents of the Vatsalya Sindhu orphanage expressed their religious piety and how much they enjoyed going to the mandir. For birthdays, festivals, and good luck, the orphans living at Vatsalya Sindhu go to the mandi and celebrate both their culture and their faith. One of their greatest interests is the study of their own culture and their own religion. They devout their free time to this interest and I was overwhelmed by their knowledge of Indian history from ancient times to the modern era. Additionally, the children at Vatsalya Sindhu love to watch movies, as a way to learn more about the students we had them tell us some of their favorite movie quotes. Instantly, the whole rooms eyes lit up and the students began running to the front to share their favorite dialogs. After the first 10 repeats started to emerge but they had made it apparent that even though their own lives may be far different from our own, they still enjoyed things that we bond over. Movies served as an icebreaker between my friends and the orphans but also a form of entertainment for them. Almost by their sheer competitive nature, the children challenged themselves to say a longer, more famous, and funnier dialog than their friends. By the end of this introduction, the students were all laughing and were willing to share more about themselves.
December, 29, 2018 Moula-Ali Hyderabad
Through lots of confusion, my friends and I were able to begin a discussion on sports and games they played at their hostel. Mostly consisting of regional Indian games, we were able to understand that the students loved to spend the time they have staying active and bonding with each other through physical activity. By a landslide, the kids favorite game was kabaddi. After a tad bit of shock by the overwhelming response, I learnt that the first graders were playing with the tenth graders. Even though they often getting tackled by students and roomates two or three times their size, the younger students laughed when I expressed concern. Growing up in an orphanage had made the children “grow tougher� as a student expressed. The sports and the ways they entertained themselves had helped them become strong and independent men, far different from the boys and childlike behaviour that kids right outside their hostel acted like. Vatsalya Sindhu had made them mature and tough however, this was done without breaking their bubbly and childlike attitudes. While volunteering at the many projects that SEWA Bharathi had been running throughout the Hyderabad metropolitan area, I had seen quite a few of the living conditions and hostels that the residents were living in. By this point, I had been to a madrasa in the Muslim enclave of Old Hyderabad, a school for blind children in Mancherial, and a school for tribal children. While seeing these areas, there was a consistent problem, poor lighting and large amounts of bugs. The orphans’ hostels were no exception, dark and difficult to study in after sunset and pestered by mosquitos and other insects. As I sat in an open room on the second floor of the hostel, speaking to around 30 kids, we began to discuss the living situations. While they expressed immense gratitude for their current hostels and were very clear that the life they lived presently was far better than what their lives could have been, they were ready and willing to move out of the area and into the new hostel that was being built. Though there move is only a
December, 29, 2018 Moula-Ali Hyderabad
short ways away, the students are all eager to see what their new hostel will look like and how the new and modern amenities will change their lives for the better. While talking, it was clear that they were grateful for the new building’s rapid construction and were expressially grateful towards those who made it possible and the hostel administrators for being so transparent about the process. Overall, I had a great time conversing with the students and residents of Vatsalya Sindhu and not only learned about what their lives were like at the center, but befriended them and got to know them on a personal level. I was amazed by the childrens’ passion for learning and how the to work, despite their situations, towards building a better future for themselves. I was inspired by their strong work ethic to use what I have been gifted with towards helping both them and other students in similar situations. I would like to thank Sewa Bharathi for this incredible learning experience and find their efforts to bring education and a better future to these children inspiring.