“Does he have a home? We wondered. But the boy could not speak.”

15 year old Mohan was discovered on a hot, sunny afternoon lying in a miserable state at one of the platforms at Mumbai Central Terminus by Sachin, outreach worker, Saathi (Railway Children Mumbai partner).

“I immediately realized this boy is new since I had never seen him before at the platform. His clothes seemed clean which meant he was not a regular platform child. He looked very tired. I started interacting with him but he did not speak much. He just kept moving his hands and showed me some gestures. In the beginning I did not understand but gradually with more interaction I realized that this child could not speak and is probably deaf as well. Through sign gestures, Mohan communicated that he was very hungry and wanted to sleep. I immediately got him some refreshments. As Mohan ate hungrily, various doubts raised in my mind, does this boy have parents? Does he have a home? How will I find information about his home?”

The same day, Mohan was brought to the shelter run by Saathi. As soon as he reached the shelter, Mohan fell asleep and did not get up till the next day afternoon.

Meanwhile Sachin had already expressed the case to the counselor at the shelter who started observing Mohan keenly. Through the first few interactions using hand gestures, the counselor came to know that Mohan was beaten by his father and hence had left home. But he wanted to go back. When asked about his home town, Mohan could not provide much information and also the counselor was finding it difficult to understand what the child was trying to communicate. Finally she counselor decided to show the map of India to Mohan to check if he could point out his home town. Mohan kept pointing out at Nadiad, place in Gujarat (western part of India). As a stroke of luck, Mohan also wrote down the names of his parents.

Sachin started using this information to trace Mohan’s parents. He contacted the local police and also Childline Gujarat (
another NGO based in India) and shared this information. However both attempts led to nothing. Meanwhile Mohan started to get desperate at the shelter. He would plead with each of the staff at the shelter to take him home and would cry most days. Finally Saathi staff decided to take the child to Nadiad city and see if the child would be able to recall his address from there.

Thus began the journey of finding the home of a boy who could not speak. “I was really worried. What if I am not able to find this boy’s home? My heart went out to him. I just prayed that things would become alright.”

Sachin took Mohan to the local railway station and was waiting to board the train. He suddenly noticed that Mohan made a gesture at one of the hawkers at the platform. Going on his hunch, Sachin immediately went to the hawker and asked if he had met the boy before. As luck would have it, the hawker mentioned that he had seen this boy in his village and gave directions to Sachin.

“The moment we reached his village, I noticed a sudden change in Mohan. He became relaxed and the frown on his face turned to a smile. He now started guiding me to his place,” recounts Sachin.

Mohan’s parents were overwhelmed with joy to see their child. They shared with Sachin that they had informed the police and had also personally gone to nearby villages to search for Mohan. They had almost given up hope.

“I was so tired. This has been a very emotionally draining experience for me. I can never forget the expression on the faces of Mohan’s parents. They were so happy. I thank God and my lucky stars that I was able to trace Mohan’s home. We are never sure what kind of case we shall encounter. Every case is so different. Every time it is a different story. But this has been by far the most challenging case. I am glad I was able to solve this,” says a very satisfied Sachin.

Sachin eventually assisted Mohan’s parents to find a special school close to their village. Mohan has been admitted to this school and attends regularly.