Every child at Apanjan is a ‘special child’, but for us they are very special. We cannot expect that they will learn a trade and move on. They are ours for life.

Babu was born normal. But, since birth, he was kept in a handi so that his spine would curve, as his disfigurement would increase his price in the begging market. The boy in a handi was a sensation on the local trains that left the bustling Sealdah station in central Kolkata every day, and his touts made huge sums of money. Spotted by a railway police constable, the boy was handed over to the Organisation for Friends, Energies and Resources (OFFER), a Kolkata-based NGO. “We were called in because we run a home for children with special needs,” explains Antara Ghosh, co-founder, OFFER.

Rescued when he was six years old, the boy was christened Babu. “He had the mental and physical development of a two-year-old and was almost totally blind and deaf. His internal systems were severely traumatised and, soon we would discover that just keeping him alive was a challenge,” says Antara.