Asho Yadav (first from left) at the home run by Conc’rn. Picture by Kundan Yolmo

Siliguri, Nov. 13: Asho Yadav had never taken a train before, but he knew that it could take him to Calcutta where his Aunt Lajo lived. So, one fine day, the nine-year-old told his mother goodbye and set out on his own from his home in Alapur, near Lucknow.

The Rs 50 in his pocket and the clothes he were wearing was enough for the journey, Asho felt, till he landed in the bustle and confusion of Sealdah station last Friday. It was then that the Class II student realised that the spirit of adventure was not enough and he should have at least brought Aunt Lajo’s address or phone number.

Sitting in the safety of the boys’ home run by Conc’rn (Care of needy children rightfully nurtured), a non-government organisation helping platform children here, Asho related his tale.

The story leaves many questions unanswered, perhaps reflecting his confused state of mind. It appears at times that he is unable to correctly reflect the experience he has been through. His story is still being verified by railway police.

“I left my home in Daragan in Nagbakshi village last Thursday after telling mummy that I was visiting bari mousi (Aunt Lajo) in Calcutta. She told me to go,” the boy claimed, apparently taking the reply made in jest seriously. “From Alapur, I took a local train to Lucknow. There I asked people for the train to Calcutta.”

Once he reached Calcutta, rather Sealdah, the next day, the boy was lost and wandered about, using fractions of the money he had with him for food. The GRP at Sealdah station caught up with him and, after inquiries, apparently put him on a train back to Lucknow. Then, at a station somewhere near Calcutta, the boy felt hungry and got off the train for food, even as the train left the station.

The boy returned on another train to Sealdah where the GRP again “helped him” by providing food and shelter for two days. He was then directed to a train that would have taken him home but a quirk of fate put him on the Darjeeling Mail last night. He reached New Jalpaiguri station this morning.

“I found him on Platform 1A about to board a train to Guwahati,” said Biswajit Das, a multi-purpose worker with Conc’rn.

“We have been working with abandoned and lost children for five years and I immediately made out from the look on his face that he was lost. I approached him and he fished out a slip of paper on which someone had written his address and an appeal to help him return home.”

The RPF here was informed and while the officials were checking out with the information provided, they asked Das to keep him at the home run by the organisation. “Once we are able to reach his parents, arrangements for his return will be made,” Das said.

The rescue comes on the eve of Children’s Day. “In the past five years, about 1,000 children have directly benefited from Conc’rn’s interventions, getting food, clothing, shelter and education at one time or the other,” said Priyanka Khanna, the organisation’s documentation officer. “At least 15 are going to formal boarding schools, while 10 have got employment after help from our centre,” she said.

“When we come across a new child, the first objective is to send him/her back to its family after several counselling sessions. If the family does not have the means or is broken, we try to send the child to a residential institution after some training at the drop-in centre,” she explained.

The efforts have been recognised and supported by international organisations, the most prominent being Railway Children UK. An undergraduate student team from Japan recently came on a study tour to work with the organisation.