Help

 

This is Babu. 

He is a shoe-shine boy on MG Road. 

A few days back, while S and I were strolling along, he approached S and asked if he could polish his shoes. Coincidentally, S was wearing formal shoes that day and not floaters/sneakers. So he obliged. Since Babu did not have a shoe-shine box/stand, S had to remove his shoes and hand it over to him. So we sat down and started talking to this lad while he did the polishing. 

He is 17 and can speak good English for someone who has only studied up to 8th. He lives with his mother and two younger siblings in Hadapsar. He originally belongs to Rajasthan and came here looking for work. He asked us politely if we could buy him a shoe-shine box so that he could earn more money (people don't tend to get shoes polished by those who don't have these stands) S, being the philanthropist he is, was ready but I told him that I had heard that before and we should check before doing that. So he had a long chat with him and told him to meet him there the next day since none of us was carrying cash. 

The next day we arrived and found him there. We got him the box and explained to him many times that he better not sell it and make money. We asked him if he was willing to study, to move to another place if his mom could get a job. He said he was. S also took down all his details in case we could get him some REAL help. I say real help because like the "teach a man how to fish.." saying, we want to do something substantial to help him out, like get him accommodation, get his mom a job, arrange for schooling etc. S tried talking to a few others he knew but nothing has worked till now. 

If there is ANY way that you would like to or can help him, it will be wonderful. Please leave a comment and we will get in touch with you. 

P.S. We are looking for a more permanent solution. Just clothes, money would only be short term.