Blog 1: Cradled by Courage – A Boy’s Journey Till 18

  In mid-2016, the Hyderabad (Telangana) police raided an illegal orphanage called ‘Brahmaputra Social Services Society’ in Gachibowli and arrested its operator, James. They rescued 14 children, aged 7 to 14, who were being forced to beg at traffic signals in an organized manner. According to the police, these children were sent to different parts of the city in the morning and had to hand over their earnings to James in the evening. Later, in August 2016, Gachibowli police, along with Medak Childline officials, conducted another raid on the same orphanage and freed 19 out of 37 children. These kids, aged 10 to 15, were also forced to beg at traffic junctions every day, with all their earnings going to the operator. In January 2018, 33 children (28 girls and 5 boys, aged 5 to 15) were rescued from another orphanage in Hyderabad called ‘Gracious Paradise.’ These children were kept in filthy, cramped rooms after school hours and forced to beg on the streets. An official investigation...

It was around September 2024 when I came to Lucknow after my name appeared in the merit list for admission to the LLM course. After the admission process, a notice was issued by the university administration announcing the commencement date of classes, stating that all newly admitted students had to join from the specified date. In compliance with the official notice, I came to Lucknow to attend my classes and to give new dimensions to my future and to pursue my dreams through the postgraduate course in law. After coming here, I stayed in a room with Vayunandan, whom I have known since childhood and who has also stayed with me in various CCIs. I had never heard the word care leaver before, nor did I know what it really meant—even though I myself was one. One day, while talking with Vayunandan, he told me about the CLU–Uttar Pradesh WhatsApp group. He explained that the group consists of care leavers like us, who are working or pursuing careers in different fields according to their int...