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Finding a Family

Photographs by Rohitz Tickoo

Published: Volume 13, Issue 2, March-April, 2005

Earlier, a child would wait for a parent; today, the parent is waiting for a child. This is a good development because now a child does not have to be in an institution for a long time

Believing firmly that no institution can be a substitute for a home, Roxana Kalyanvala and her dedicated band of workers at the Bharatiya Samaj Seva Kendra, search quietly and relentlessly for the most suitable family for each child that passes through its doors. The executive director of the Pune-based adoption centre speaks to Sherna Gandhy about the changing attitudes of prospective parents

The six-storeyed building is strangely silent. Surely a facility that houses almost a 100 children from the ages of zero to six should be full of noise, shouts and laughter. When you descend to the second floor, the reason for the silence becomes apparent. About 17 youngsters, between the ages of two to six, are seated at two miniature dining tables, intently tucking into bowls of food. Lunch over, they carry their bowls and thalis to the designated place near the kitchen, wash their hands and then congregate in the large well lit room where they sleep and play.

All hell then breaks loose, as some of them get down to the serious business of playing with their toys, others perform gymnastic feats on their little beds, and the curious ones throng around Roxana Kalyanvala – who took over as executive director of the centre in 2001 – tugging at her salwar kameez, pelting her with questions. The caregivers go serenely about their business of getting everyone to sit on the potty, chasing the ones who run off bare-bottomed, generally waiting for the high spirits to settle down and the noonday nap time to begin.

We leave them to it and continue our tour of the Bharatiya Samaj Seva Kendra (BSSK), an adoption centre in Pune, that has been working quietly, dedicatedly and professionally to find homes for the many children who have passed in and out of its doors since 1979. ‘The Bertha Varada’, as the building that houses the centre is called, was built only in 2000 and now houses all the adoption activities of BSSK which were previously spread over three locations. The place is spotlessly clean and the rooms, airy and light with child-size furniture and childproof doors. A play area downstairs has swings and slides and ample place to run around in. There is a small schoolroom off the children’s living area where the older children are taught basic education, and a therapy room for those who need it.

Kalyanvala has been with BSSK for all but four of the 25 years of its existence. She came to work here fresh from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai. “I knew from the beginning that I wanted to work with people. I knew I had it in me in terms of providing counselling and support that people need. At first, the trustees were reluctant to hire me because I did not speak Marathi, but I pleaded with them to give me a chance and they agreed to try me out.”

The adoption scene looks much more hopeful than it did 20 years ago, but what does it still lack? For one, a change in the law, which currently says that only Hindus can become legal parents and all other communities are merely guardians of the child. Resistance from sections of the minority communities themselves, has often torpedoed any reforms in this 1956 law. This puts the child’s right to inheritance in jeopardy in case the deceased parents have not left a will, as the child does not inherit by right.

Contact details: The Bharatiya Samaj Seva Kendra, The Bertha Varada, North Main Road, Sixth Lane, Plot No 373, Koregaon Park, Pune 411 001.
Tel no: (020) 26128002/ 26055332/ 26139314.
Telefax: 26125716. Email:bssk@pn2.vsnl.net.in.
Website: www.bsskindia.org.

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