13 year old, Jyoti, a domestic servant, was delighted at the birth of her first born son. She and her husband, Dasharat, a painter who later worked as a driver with JK Tyres, were filled with hopes and dreams for him. As the years passed, however, they soon discovered their precious son had a serious disability – a congenial muscular skeleton deformity! His skeletal bones were underdeveloped, which meant that although the size of his head increased as per his age, his body failed to develop in the same proportion. This is Vikas who is now 13 years of age, intelligent, bright, cheerful and full of life despite the fact that he cannot walk and looks extremely small for his age. His brothers, Raj, 11, and Mahesh, 7, are able, strong and do well at school.

The family lived in Thane, a district north of mainland Mumbai. Normal life, as they knew it, started to fall apart when Dasharat met with an accident for which he had to be hospitalized. That’s when the reality of his HIV+ status came to be known and Jyoti also tested positive. Tests conducted on the boys, however, showed no signs of the virus. With mouths to feed and bills to pay, Jyoti was torn between looking to the needs of her ailing husband, taking care of her three children and struggling at work to financially support her family. She strained to earn enough to feed the boys, but was distraught at not being there for them. Desperation led the children to begging at railway stations. Vikas’ disability tugged at the heart-strings of passers-by and thus he managed to earn more money.

Jyoti’s faith increased at the hospital where her husband lay battling the virus, through counseling from a social worker from Jeevan Sahara Kendra, an HIV care project at Thane. Ever since, she has been convinced that God had been taking care of them all along. 2 years later, when Dasharat passed away, the family was referred to Purnata Bhavan, (a residential care project of Oasis India situated at Igatpuri). The boys could go to school and Jyoti picked up some skills through the vocational training programme at the home.

In addition to be prepared to appear for the National Open School Examinations, Vikas is being taught English and computer skills at Purnata Bhavan. The local school, where his siblings study, has come forward to provide for a wheelchair through a Government initiated programme.

Vikas’ desire is to work with computers. His mother would soon complete her training and plans to settle in Mumbai along with her 3 boys. Vikas, in the meantime wants to further his expertise in computers by undergoing formal training so as to be able to take up data entry jobs in an office set-up. Purnata Bhavan hopes to come in contact with a person or an agency who could buy Vikas a computer to present to him when he finishes his stay at the home so that he could earn and support himself and his family. Our dream for Vikas is to enable him to work in a ‘virtual world’ where his disability will not be a hindrance.