Sunny Kumar from Bihar; currently stays in Delhi
Age: 12

“It has been 3-4 days since I came back from a de-addiction centre. I never enjoyed studying or staying at home. I used to go out, indulge in drugs, sleep on the roads with my friends and not go home for 3-4 days at a stretch sometimes. I saw older boys, men at the de-addiction centre who had wasted their lives. They told me I still stood a chance if I got back to studying. So here I am.

“I have an older sister and a younger brother; both of them are enrolled in a school. My parents want to send me to a hostel now. I do not want to go to a hostel; I am insisting that I be sent to a school. Eight months in the de-addiction centre was too long a separation from home. I want to be a doctor. I want to treat people’s illnesses.”

– As told to Tania Goklany. She met Sunny Kumar at a Save the Children Centre in Govindpuri, Delhi.