After a few months at Bal Ashram, Ramesh returned home. He began to hang out with older boys who were into smoking and fighting. His father grew angry and sent him to Nepal. Ramesh had to work in a restaurant, cleaning and washing dishes for twelve hours a day.

“The owner used to beat me for the slightest mistake,” says Ramesh. “The nights were terrible. I used to place two benches side by side to sleep on, but sometimes I fell off. Then the owner would come flying in and beat me.”

Blood everywhere
One day, Ramesh was painting a wall when a drop of paint landed in the restaurant owner’s food.

“I can’t remember how many times he punched me before I fell. I landed on my hands and and a nail went right into my finger. There was blood and paint everywhere.”

There and then, Ramesh, who by then was nine, decided to escape. But Bal Ashram was several days’ journey away. 
Ramesh told the other boy at the restaurant about the food, the games and the school there, but his friend was too afraid to join him. Finally Ramesh got desperate and lied: “Do you know what else there is at Bal Ashram? Planes! Sometimes they land there and you can have a look at them!”