We continue with Part II of our 4-part series. Even if we learn one thing from this series then let that be a quote from Altaf about the birth of Saathi "We complained about what others were not doing until we slowly realized that if we couldn't do it ourselves there was no point in talking about it. It was during the course of this ranting that one night at 2am, the idea of establishing Saathi was conceived."

Part II

By Charu Bahri
IndianMuslims.info
Getting on with life and its harsh realities

Around 1987, Altaf began taking tuitions to support himself. His proposed study of printing technology in Germany went out of the window, as his work with children living on the streets took precedence. By 1990 however, he began to look for a job. As he says, "I began to look for a job, a typical 9 to 5 job that would leave me with enough free time to continue my work on the streets. I applied for the job of a diamond sorter in a semi-government, as I reckoned there would be no work to carry home to do? I mean, who'd trust employees with diamonds worth lakhs of rupees?! Since I was one of 300 applicants that were whittled down to ten and finally only three, I consider myself really lucky to have got the job."

However, life had a lot more in store for Altaf.

The 1992-93 riots were a major jolt. "Till then," he says, "I had been living with the belief that segregation and isolation occur, but in far off places. These things will never happen to me. At the time, my mother, sister, handicapped nephew and I lived in Tardeo Road (Mumbai) in a Hindu dominated housing complex. The Shiv Sena shakha was situated at the foot of our building. On day one of the riots, 3 of the only 4 Muslim families occupying the building left. During the ensuing 72 hours or three days of rioting, our neighbors protected us even though the rioting mobs made many attempts to force their way through the building. Eventually, our neighbors came and requested us to flee, saying they could no longer guarantee our safety. We fled with hardly a few clothes each and took refuge in a Parsi journalist's home in Colaba. For 31 days, we did not know whether our home existed or had been burnt or destroyed or what."

Mumbai riots 1993

Religion on the streets

The riots left Altaf with more questions. He wondered how it had affected his friends living on the streets. He had already realized that the assumption that those who live on the street live in harmony was false, for he had encountered 14 or 15 years olds who had committed crimes like looting, even murder. Of course, as he reflects, "I do believe that in most cases, the ability to perform such ghastly acts comes from a lot of anger against life and circumstances bottled up within."

Yet at the same time, Altaf speaks highly of the generosity of children living on the streets, believing as he does that the hardships they face makes children living on the streets far more accommodating and generous. He was once tracking a ten year old boy at night, for he had been told he was getting into wrong company. Imagine his amazement when he saw him encounter a beggar, and part with one rupee, when all he possessed was two rupees. This incident itself speaks a lot for their attitude.

Insofar as religion is concerned, Altaf realized how it must feel to have to eat non-vegetarian food if your faith dictated otherwise, yet you were so hungry you had to eat whatever was available. Also how Muslim boys felt if they had to eat free food doled out by a temple, even if their hearts and minds resented their action.

Adolescents are affected differently by religious issues, depending largely on the age at which they left home. If they have left home late, that is, after having had a religious initiation, they feel more strongly on certain issues vis-a-vis those who have quite literally, grown up on the streets.

The birth of Saathi

Altaf worked with adolescent children with support from Yuva till 1995, but then had to part ways. By 1995, as he says, "I'd seen a generation of children living on the streets grow up on the streets, reach early adulthood, and find themselves with few to no resources to draw on since all the NGOs working with children had an age cut off."

Sadly, adolescents (over fifteen) were viewed as aggressive and social work reaching out to them as too demanding. Social organizations focusing on children were aplenty but no one wanted to get deeply involved with a group if it meant addressing issues facing adolescents, such as prostitution and face offs with the police.

In 1996, Altaf began spending more time with Mansoor, also a community worker and Saathi founder member and trustee, and as he says, "We complained about what others were not doing until we slowly realized that if we couldn't do it ourselves there was no point in talking about it. It was during the course of this ranting that one night at 2am, the idea of establishing Saathi was conceived."

The duo discussed the situation and slowly, they met up with others who shared a common vision of creating an NGO that could effect change, work with populations left behind, and develop programs that could serve as models for others to replicate. Saathi's focus was thus identified as youth living on the streets aged 14-22 years, irrespective of their background or religion.

Altaf Shaikh(standing) with Saathi youth

Secular working

Saathi's diverse team represents a number of major and minor religions. They strictly work on a secular basis. Issues of communalism are discussed openly and peace between communities is fostered tacitly through a variety of activities. For instance, Saathi's group homes for youth house boys of mixed religions, and participants of Saathi's projects collectively celebrate religious festivals.

This open attitude has helped steer Saathi forward. Altaf himself believes that he has achieved what he has thanks to mentors who were nurturing and trusted him when he chose to explore new areas and ideas. That support allowed him to build on his experiences and learning to eventually take up further issues.

Part III highlights Altaf's beliefs on a few practical issues related to starting social work

[photos:
Mumbai Riots by Times of India
Altaf Shaikh by Saathi]