Intertwined - Tangled series (Overprotective famous brothers)

Charity Show

Alisha

“So guys,” I started in the national language of India, Hindi. Well, at least said to be the national language. Nowhere in the books was it stated that Hindi was India’s national language, but it was just a common misconception. But going with the language most kids understood in this school cum orphanage, I decided to speak to them in colloquial Hindi. 

These were kids we had rescued from the streets and brothels, from factories and mines. These were children whose childhood had been stolen from them, and what we did was an attempt to give them their childhood back. We tried to fulfill their child rights, to take care of their food, shelter, education, hobbies, to provide financial, physical and emotional support. They were scarred, probably in ways worse than I was. There were seven year old girls here who were raped by men infected with HIV, because a superstition proclaimed that sex with a virgin could cure HIV/ AIDS. There were kids with severe burns from working in cracker factories, the same crackers that we burst during Christmas. The crackers that lit up our world blinded thousands of innocent kids. The coal used to generate electricity and keep our lives going killed kids in the mines. And then the worst part was, most of them were kidnapped or sold off by their own parents for a few hundred bucks. 

I felt guilty to be living the life I did when I looked into their eyes. 

“Who likes to dress up?” the kids immediately raised their hands, talking amongst themselves. They were sitting in a circle around me, with a few of their teachers standing around them. Only in their twenties or early thirties, these group of youngsters had a dream of running an orphanage and school for the under privileged. They had come to Being Human with an outstanding proposal, and within a month or two we had kids to look after. There were many more places we donated to, all around the world, but this one was where the kids we, our Being Human team rescued were generally enrolled. This place was just very special to all of us in Being Human. 

The name- Akanksha, meaning hope. 

“And who likes to dance?” more hands went up in the air, some of them standing to show their enthusiasm. Damn, it was contagious. 

“So, who would like to put up a show where we all dress up and have a show and dance?” cheers, that’s all I could hear. The teachers and me tried to calm everyone down, but only with calm words. With everything they had been forced to do, we never could force them to do anything in their lives. All we could do was request. 

“Like how they do it in TV shows?” one boy asked, and I had to try hard to keep tears from falling. This boy had lost both his legs in a mine accident as a child laborer, he walked with cringes, but he was still smiling widely.

“Better than them.”

“Will Salman bhai come too?” a teenager asked and I nodded, leading to increased cheers and talking around the room. He visited this place often, we all did, and spent time with them. Salman wasn’t only popular here because he was a celebrity, but also because he had his own charm on children. They all loved Salman playing football with them, Arbaaz reading them stories and making plays with them, and Sohail for any outdoor activity. Malaika’s sushi was a reason of celebration when she visited, and Arhaan had found friends in these kids. I had people my own age who I was close with, people who knew exactly how I felt. Here, I felt accepted completely. Also, they kind of liked to learn music when I came here. 

“Everyone will come. And if you guys want, we can call other people!” 

They just squealed their lungs out at that one. These kids were deprived of any attention, for most of them their existence didn’t matter to their own parents. They craved to be seen, to be heard by the world. That’s what I had planned, to give them their voice. For once, instead of me and my family spreading awareness about these kids and millions of others like these, it was their turn to speak for themselves.