Name: Salim

Age:

Family situation: An orphan. Hails from Maharastra.

Salim was just an ordinary boy. The fact which surprised me the most about this tiny boy, is the fluency with which he spoke Malayalam. . You might wonder, why the simple matter of a boy speaking Malayalam comes as a matter of surprise. I'll explain. Salim hails from North India and has never travelled out of his home state-Maharastra, for all of the early years of his life. He has been at Snehabhavan or rather in Kerala only for the past 6 months and yet he has learned and picked up the local language in just a few months time. In fact he spoke it better than a few of the typical Malayalam speaking guys at Snehabhavan. That was what had surprised me. He also acts as a translator, helping us, when we talk in Malayalam  to the other guys at the orphanage who know and understand only Hindi.

Salim enjoys going around with a pin hidden in his pocket. And as and when he gets his chances, he gives a slight prod to any of his friends nearby. And one can hear the victim's shriek and Salim's mischievous laugh echoing the room at exactly the same time. The other boys have almost got used to this, and you can see their cautious faces once they know that Salim is around. This frolicsome behaviour of his, has earned him the tag of “Shock Salim” by the other kids at the orphanage. Even in between our small conversation, he managed to give me a poke or two. After accomplishing the act, he look amused and looked up at me with a satisfying grin. What a boy! Whew.

I'll tell you my story if you do not publicize it. Agreed! He began bantering his story in one go. I could just pick up pieces of his story. Words rattled out so quickly that it looked like he had taken it as a challenge to complete the happenings of his entire past in one single minute. Someone locked him up...roamed around the streets of Mumbai hungry for days at a stretch...he jumped into a running train....used to wipe the floor with his shirt...used to earn hundreds a day...doesn't want to study...wants to go back to his work, .etc. I looked at him with sympathy. on seeing that, the face that was full of remorse the previous second, broke into a sly smile. He sat back on his chair, clapped his hands and delightfully blurted out “All what I told you is nothing but a lie”. I stared in disbelief. He gave me another poke and ran out of the room. I still keep wondering as to whether the story was really true or not.