A promise I made a long time ago to my companion Sch.Yesu became a reality only the other day when I accompanied him to the place where he ministers -'The Remand Home'. It is a detention centre for children who are lost or who run away from home or who are caught in various criminal acts. The children remain there for years as they fail to provide any contact number or address. In the course of our chat, Yesu told me that he and his colleagues visit such children's parents to listen to their stories and give them value education. So far they had been able to convince the parents of 12 boys to come and take ther children back home.
On reaching our destination, Yesu took me to a room where a court proceeding was going on. The judges were verifying different documents produced by the parents who had come to take their lost children. An army of 30 boys, in torn clothes with shaggy hair and ashen faces were sitting in front of the judges. Suddenly, a ten year old boy came to Yesu and told him something in a low voice while pointing to a couple. From his gesture I guessed that they were his parents who had come to take him home. Yesu went to them and introduced himself. The middle-aged man bowed down before him and touched his feet. His wife too did the same. As they were conversing in Telugu I could not follow anything but remembered just one sentence: Neevu devudavu, neevu nakumaruniki janma nichithivi. Later Yesu translated it into English as 'You are a God; you gave life to my child'. It took nearly four hours to complete all the legal procedures. Finally when the boy came out of custody, the mother embraced him and broke into tears. The sight of the boy's reunion with his parents was very touching. I could feel how grateful the parents were to Yesu as they kept on saying, Neevu devudavu..'.
The inmates are divided in two groups according to their age and are put up in two rooms . Their world is limited to those rooms where they sleep, eat and play. A few of them were literally crying and pleading with us to reach them home. We promised we will do our best.
While returning from the remand home, I asked Yesu from whom he first got the inspiration to start this kind of work. "It is from Fr Arrupe," he replied and talked of Fr Arrupe's ministry among the prisoners. He narrated his experience on the first day he spent at the remand home. He stood feeling uneasy, not knowing what to do. He was scared. Then he heard a child standing behind him whisper in Telugu, "Sir, I want to go back home. I don't feel like staying here. These people beat me every now and then."
Yesu did not know what to say, what to do. He mumbled, "I will ..I will do something for you." After thinking about it for a week, he decided that he must do something for him.
The next day he listened to the boy's story. The boy told him his name was Sudha and he came from Andhra Pradesh. He left home when his father scolded him for failing in the final exams. He took a train from Vijayawada and landed in Chennai. At the station the cops picked him up and brought him to the remand home. With tears in his eyes, Sudha again begged Yesu to do something for him. Yesu got from Sudha the phone number and called his parents. They begged him to take care of their beloved son.
Yesu did all the ground work and after a few days the parents came looking for their son. It was a moving experience for Yesu. When he saw the smiling face of Sudha and his parents, he made up his mind to rescue as many boys as possible. This was the humble beginning of a noble task. Later on, he sought the help of others to contact the parents of the children from their States. Gradually many joined hands for this noble venture of reuniting children with their families.
We were so engrossed in our conversation that we forget to get down where we should. We got down at the last stop and returned home. What keeps coming to mind are the faces of those children, Yesu and Fr Arrupe.
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