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Name:Asai Muthu
Age: Around 10 years
Home town: Trichy, Tamil Nadu
Family back ground : His father, Kalimuthu is a street dancer and his three siblings are also part of this wandering troupe. Mother- Parvathi has no source of income.
How he reached here: Fed up with his father's atrocities and physical abuse, Asai Muthu eloped from his shanty one fine morning. He got into the first train that he saw, which took him to Cochin, from where police brought him to Sneha bhavan.
It is paradoxical to note that though his name in his native language of Tamil roughly translates as ' Precious Dream', his real life has turned out to be something contradictory. When I met him, he was back after an exciting spell of football with his buddies. His tee shirt was muddy and drenched in sweat after a hotly contested match. With a pierced ear and a missing tooth, Asai muthu appeared so endearing and cuddly to me. He sat on the cement bench along the garden and gazed aimlessly to the distant horizon as I handed over to him a handful of toffees to break the ice and kick off the conversation. Our talk started with a bold confession by this tiny tot. He bared his teeth sheepishly and told me ' The two things I hate the most is the ordeal of taking bath two times a day and coping up with the studies'. I couldn't help bursting out with laughter at this wacky one liner .
Bonnie and cute, this tiny tot told me that he love to make merry and fool around all day, doing virtually nothing. He has always been carefree and fun loving and the street plays run by his father seldom fascinated him and that is another reason why he left his home. Though his elder brother plays drum in the street plays and the younger brothers perform tricks like rope walk and head rolls in their father's troupe, Asai muthu kept a safe distance from all these high octane actions.
'I wish I could go on sight seeing trips more often' he told me with a mischievous smile. The trip that he cherished the most was the one where the kids were taken to see the Luxury Cruiser during its brief drop anchor session in Cochin. What do you plan to become in future? He took his own time to give a firm reply; may be he was weighing all the options carefully before making his final choice. Finally he came up with his answer. 'I want to become a train driver!' Why on earth do you want to be an engine driver when there are many other less strenuous jobs? I feigned ignorance to bring out the best answer from him. Talking in chaste Tamil, he told me ' I can watch almost all Indian villages and cities and other interesting sights without spending a penny on sight seeing' Wow! I let out a shriek as I could not hide my excitement at his snappy answer.
When he took leave for his evening shower, I kept my gaze fixed on this bubbly kid till he walked off from my sight. As I stepped out of the garden, the one thought that stirred up my mind was that this child is indeed a 'precious dream', true to his name, because God creates every child in this universe with a special thought and concern and Asai Muthu is no different!
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