Out in the great swathes of open fields in South-west Delhi’s Matiala Village lies Deepti Ashram, set up by the Missionary Society of St Thomas. One has to make his way through the farms dotted with bright yellow mustard plants and finally a giant star perched atop the ashram greets the visitors.
Around fourteen children are present in the building, eating their lunch, which comprise some rice, macaroni, and everyone’s favourite — the plum cake.
“We had just visited the neighbourhood and went around distributing cakes. It’s Jesus Christ’s birthday and every year we talk to the people around us and share our happiness. I feel really happy during this time of the year,” says 10-year-old Akshay.
Akshay and his friends, all of them orphans, have been living in this ashram for the past few years. On a cursory glance, everything may look normal, however, when they grow up, they will be bombarded by diseases as their immune system weakens over time. They are all infected with the HIV virus but the children are not counting their days and rather spend their time counting down days for Santa’s arrival.
“I heard he is a father dressed in red and he distributes presents to poor children and has packed all of it in a bag. I don’t know if he truly exists but we made a star just in case he wants to finds us out” said Anshuman, a 7-year-old.
Leaving out two children, most of them do not have families. Many of their stories are downright heart wrenching. Ravi, one of the youngest, is one of them, as the only memory he has of his parents involve them being brutally murdered in front of him by his community. “Many of them have very sad stories but we can’t verify them. The boy (Anshuman), says that his parents were killed. I just want to make sure that these children are educated and have someone to care of, so that when the time comes and they have to leave the ashram, they are aware of their disease and are also able to cope up with life,” said Father Manu, the priest who runs of ashram.
Many of the boys are referred to the Ashram by the Child Welfare Community (CWC), after which they are housed in the ashram. Many of them go to a local government school. Two of them had to drop out from a private school, as they could not catch up the curriculum. However, that does not stop them from going to school.
“I stood second in my class and I managed it because of Sanskrit. It is easy to score marks in that subject. I hate Maths and Hindi though,” said Angad, an orphan. He wildly gestures at his friend and says: “He always comes second from the back,” inviting a guffaw of laughter from the others.
After they eat their cake, they wait eagerly for the annual bible skit. “I like the beggar story, where God tests their loyalty. I played the God’s beggar last year. This year I have no such role,” Ravi laments.