An Attempt To Peep Into The 'Lil Baddies' Life

For the re-integration of juvenile offenders into the mainstream to actually work, each one of us has to wipe out the prejudice from our minds, open out our hearts and reach out to truly give these young people a second chance.

It’s been almost two years since I started working in the Observation Home in Hyderabad.

As I mentally revisit the hundreds of young offenders we have interacted with, it’s a long shadowy line of silhouettes, some faces more clearly etched than the others. I slip back into the discussions, the workshops, the games, the laughter, the frustration, the helplessness and the determination to keep this connect going. And to sensitise the more privileged youth to the circumstances from where these boys come, to the lack of opportunity they face each day, and the possibility of a more positive intervention during their stay in the Home.

The juveniles have watched transfixed, the plays that their more fortunate friends have brought to them! They are fascinated by their confidence, their ease of manner and the whole sense of Self that they display. The bonhomie between both groups after the performance leading into an impromptu Antakshari banter adds a great deal to their sense of personal dignity. For a few hours, the space gets transformed into a sunny, happy room of young people exchanging ideas, views, in an atmosphere of mutual respect.

The heart wrenching moment comes when it is time to say goodbye – to walk away free with one lot of young people, while the others wave back wistfully, behind iron grills. The first summer that we brought our theatre group, a couple of children broke down outside the gates as we were leaving. The boys they had just met seemed as normal as any of their friends in school. Yes, they must have committed a mistake, but did they need to be incarcerated?

This is a debate that has been ongoing across the world. Some countries have progressed to the “community service” model, reserving custody for the more heinous crimes. I personally feel that this is a model worth delving into deeper. Four years ago, the Observation Home I worked in had frightened first time offenders, hardened repeat offenders, drug addicts, love-lorn youth all thrown together, to negotiate their way through one ominous dark space. As outside the home, here too are the “Dadas”, their lines of power clearly defined amongst the boys, most of who aspire to be admitted into this inner coterie!

I watched young Rahul transform before my eyes. A simple, bright teenager from a humble background, Rahul had started bunking classes with friends, to catch a quick smoke outside the school gates and the latest Bollywood release. The bidi slowly progressed to ganja for which they needed money, and hence the “gang” slipped into petty theft. They were like any other group of frivolous hot-headed adolescents, trying to emulate the swagger of the “anti-hero”, proclaiming their kinship with “Shankar Dada”, a notorious thief recently nabbed for having committed over 500 burglaries across the state.

Rahul was one of the more participative young offenders in our theatre workshops. Always polite and charming, he was quick to learn his part, was alert with the cues, and generally an inspiration to the others. Rahul also enjoyed drawing and would constantly try to smuggle paper and crayons from us, so that he could create pictures in his spare time.

One afternoon, as I was saying my goodbyes after the workshop, Rahul asked me to bring a Tulsi plant the next time I visited. He held my hand and took me to a tiny alcove he had decorated with pictures of Indian gods, cut-out from calendars. “Will you bring me a Tulsi plant for my mandir? I promise to water it every day.”

As my eyes took in every little detail, I choked. “Rahul” I asked, “what has happened to the mandir (temple) inside your heart? Doesn’t your god reside in that temple?”

He looked away as he explained to me that his god had left a long time ago, leaving the doors of the temple wide open. The next week I returned with a healthy Tulsi plant for Rahul, but he had been released on bail.

Thereafter began the saga of Rahul. He would be back every other month and as his crime graph grew, his intelligence made him “attractive” to other “gangs”. It broke my heart to see him harden over the years and slip into a no-man’s land, from which few are able to make the journey back. Today, he has crossed the “Lakshman Rekha”of 18 years, and is at the moment cooling his heels in Cherlapally Jail. And I feel responsible, as I feel each one of us is responsible, for being a part of a system that is inadequate in the solutions it provides, to gently bring these boys back on track.

Some changes have been happening on the ground though. Over the last few months, an attempt is being made to segregate the severely addicted offenders and place them in a de-addiction centre for a period of three months. We have been running an Expressive Arts Therapy programme at one of these centres since last year, as a platform to heal the boys and build a sense of self worth. To this, we have added a Skill Training component with the support of an Industry partner, Kirloskar Brothers Ltd. Batches of 10 boys are trained as pump mechanics over a period of two months, and after a certification ceremony, they are offered an internship in one of their service centres.

Neeraj, one of the beneficiaries of this project, is a glowing testimony to the wonders that opportunity and direction can do for a young mind. His addiction well behind him, Neeraj cycles to work on the second-hand bicycle he has bought from his earnings. He is trying to open a bank account close by so that he can save a little money each month. His clear eyes and ready smile dispel any doubts one may have of his honesty and determination to build a new life for himself. I almost envy him for his clarity. Having been to hell and back, Neeraj values every breath of fresh air he inhales, that can only get more exhilarating as he grows!

For every one Neeraj though, there are a hundred Rahuls condemned to the cess pool of apathy and cynicism. It is not new legislation that we require – the Juvenile Justice Act addresses all the grey areas currently being debated, if one cares to study it in detail. What we need is a proper implementation of the Act, for the juveniles to be engaged constructively during the period they are kept in the Observation Homes – to be provided relevant education, along with sports activities, art therapy, sensitive counseling and livelihood training, so that they are gainfully occupied for most of the day. And first time offenders need to definitely be kept away from those back on repeated offences, so that they stand a greater chance for re-integration back into society.

For re-integration to actually work though, each one of us has to wipe out the prejudice from our minds, open out our hearts and reach out to truly give these young people a second chance. They too belong to the fabric of society we have woven together, and as such, each one has to take responsibility to repair the damage.