Shehnaz had come to the city from Jabalpur, with her 7-year old son in 2007. As they stepped out of the train she asked him to wait on the platform, while she went to get a taxi; when she returned she could not find him. He went missing. “I, too, was lost in the city. I was unable to explain my situation to anyone, as I didn’t know the language. I rang up my husband and he asked me to wait around, and look for him some more time. But nothing came of it,” said Shehnaz holding back her tears. Muhammed, clutching his mother’s arm, said: “I cried for several years thinking about my parents as I missed them immensely.” He was rescued by officials from Childline at the Chennai Central station, who produced him in front of the Child Welfare Committee, and was later sent to a home run by the Don Bosco Anbu Illam (DBAI). “We were unable to get any proper information from him at
that time, as he was too young. When we asked what his name is, he said Muhammed, that’s how we named him. We, however, continued looking for his parents,” said Johnson Bashyam SDB, Rector, and Director of DBAI. Muhammed was enrolled in St. Joseph’s school, where he was a good student, who displayed keen interest in running and high jump. He even represented the district at the annual sports meet. However, there was always a void. “I was sent to foster homes, but I don’t have any friends and felt unwanted,” he said. “I want to become a cricketer one day and that’s my only aim,” he said in Tamil looking at his father, who was trying hard to figure out the language. “I have bought a Hindi to Tamil translation dictionary, so that I can understand what my son says. We’ll teach him Hindi too,” said Muhammad Hussein, his father. The home currently houses 102 children, of whom 23 are orphans, 70 have single parents and the remaining 9 were found abandoned at railway stations, bus stops and other public places. “We get such cases almost every single day,” said a senior CWC official. “I have my exam tomorrow, but I will go home once my exam is over,” Muhammad said, as he stepped out of the home with his family.
