Bhukkad – hungry to learn

The film tells the inspiring story of Bhukkad – a young boy growing up in the red-light district at the heart of old Delhi. He sleeps wherever he can, eats whatever he’s handed out, but never lets go of a handful of books and his unbound curiosity. Clutching his books and chasing whoever is willing to teach him something new, Bhukkad navigates the seedy lanes of his neighborhood while picking up Wordsworth and mathematics. His mother, like most other women on that street, is doing whatever she can to survive and a school is a distant dream locked away from their reaches. You can’t help but see Bhukkad, on his quest to learn, converting his mother’s clients into his teachers, and wonder what would happen if this child could be in a classroom instead.

School’s Outgrowing up without education

90 million children don’t have access to good education in a country where public schools lack even the most basic facilities. The children that are hit the hardest are those like Bhukkad who are growing up in some of the most marginalized sections of the society. Children of commercial sex workers are particularly disadvantaged as they find themselves growing up under some of the most adverse circumstances. The fact that prostitution is illegal but continues to operate in an underbelly of criminal exploitation and poverty, means these children are the hardest hit and need a helping hand in getting them out of the streets and into a classroom.

Getting the streets into the classroom

The campaign went after the most disadvantaged and marginalized of the children to break new ground and bust the boundaries of impact. In the GB Road area, the red-light district, there are more than 5000 children, born to the sex workers and growing up under extremely adverse circumstances. Caught between poverty and shame, these children almost never get a fair chance at life. Our on-ground community outreach program was designed keeping in mind their difficult working conditions. Round the clock screenings (of the film) were held to accommodate women working odd hours along with free meals for the women and their children. To make the impact immediate and easy, children were enrolled on-the-spot to ensure there are no gaps between the message and the call to action.