The chosen ones

(The names of the children have been changed to protect their identity)

MEERUT: Everyone knows the "house of the many kids " in Ganganagar , a busy locality in Meerut . Ring the bell and a young boy, let's call him Vivek, opens the door and cheerfully greets visitors with folded hands. Vivek is one of the 12 adopted sons of Ajay Sharma. And like the 11 others, he, too, is HIV positive .The children, between 7 and 17, all have a similar story to tell. Each of them was born to parents with AIDS. They lived in their homes for as long as their parents survived and were later abandoned and shunned by their relatives. But unlike thousands of other such children who have to deal with poverty and ridicule, apart from the burden of carrying the deadly disease, these 12 kids were lucky. They found a dad who rescued them and brought them home.Sharma dotes on them. “I have a dozen sons and each one of them is precious to me,” he says, smiling.In 2004, Sharma suffered a brain haemorrhage and slid into coma for 15 days. After experiencing a close encounter with death, he says he “understood the importance of being alive and decided to dedicate my life for the cause of underprivileged children”. He relinquished his job at the Government Inter College, Phalawada, and began teaching kids in the slums.Four years later, in 2008, Sharma came across an HIV positive child whose parents had passed away and his relatives had abandoned him. The child was severely emaciated and on the verge of collapse. Sharma tried his best to admit him into a hospital but all doors were closed on him. “My conscience did not allow me to leave this child. I brought him home and nursed him. Thankfully, he revived. But the incident left a deep impact on me. I began thinking why society is so unfair to a child who is suffering for no fault of his own. I resolved to change this attitude.” Years passed and Sharma kept working for poor children, adding one child after another to his brood. "But the journey was not easy," he says. "Had it not been for the support of my wife, Babita, I would have been at sea. Especially when with the number of children being added to the family we began hunting for a bigger house and just no one would rent it to us. Finally, a noble soul agreed in Ganganagar.”Initially, the other residents of Ganganagar opposed the stay of these children. The husband and wife, however, persisted and slowly the people around began to accept the kids. And as news about his special sons spread, several doctors started visiting the house to spend "quality time” with the patients. Now they are regular visitors. Many come for the celebration of birthdays, bringing their own kids along.“I always feel a surge of positive energy when I meet these children. They are so full of life. I only pray that science comes out with a viable treatment for this disease,” says Dr Rajiv Prakash, a paediatrician and a regular at the Ganganagar house. Dr Amit Pathak, another visitor, says, “These children are themselves doing a great service to society by eradicating negative myths associated with AIDS patients. Just look at them.”Not just that, there are teachers now streaming in to educate the children. For the past three years, Neema Jain, a teacher at Adarsh Vidya Mandir, has been at it. "I teach them Hindi, English and Maths. They are like any other children. Some of them are really bright,” she says. Then, Lokesh Sharma, a government employee, drops in to train the kids in yoga. "It develops their resistance," he explains.On their part, the kids do their bit. While Vivek receives the guests, Pankaj, who is just seven, keeps shoes in the rack. Keshav administers ART drugs to all the children and Kishore, 17, being the eldest of the lot, supervises the activities of the rest and chooses the best performer of the month. Despite all the joy and happiness at the Ganganagar house, though, death and sadness are always hovering around. “Kishore is currently in the second stage of the disease and doesn’t have much time. I don’t even want to think about it," says Sharma, a tear appearing in the corner of his eye."We hope to have a bigger house some day where we can keep at least 50 such children. They need our love and they are simply not getting enough of it in this world."