“A few years after I started this orphanage, I got a call from the colony President who informed me about a four-year-old boy. The little one was locked inside a house for four days by his own mother, who was apparently a prostitute. When we brought the child to our orphanage, he was shivering. I could sense so much fear. He didn’t eat or move for a few days. We dealt with him carefully, assuring him that it’ll all be fine. The boy is now eight-years-old and is leading a happy life here. I feel so happy to see him happy and normal. I see the childhood I couldn’t live in him and other 44 kids here.

When I look at them, I wish I had so many friends to grow up with. I never wanted any child to feel the absence of a happy family like I did. At a young age, I carried the burden of holding together my family financially and emotionally. My father died early, so things were never stable growing up. But I had decided that I would change the narrative of my story once I’m an adult. I discontinued education after class 10 and joined a dance troupe that performed for reality shows. At 25, I stopped that also. I knew it was time to work for the society and not live for myself alone. That’s when I started Amma Odi Orphanage with two kids. Today, I have 45 children from different parts of the state. My wife and I also have two kids. For us, however, it’s one big family of 49.”

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