Children at SOS: Abandoned by society, accepted by The Village

Engrossed in an elbow fight, eight-year-old Sanjay* avoids eye contact, but ask him who his favourite actor is and pat comes the answer, "Salman Khan".

He has a sweet tooth for 'kheer', is fond of Punjabi dance numbers and aspires to become a police inspector someday.

His story might seem no different from any child of his age, except that it is.

The orphaned boy and his younger brother Ajay* are currently living in Faridabad at the SOS Children's Village. They walked into the facility some two months ago through the government's Child Welfare Committee and have since been part of SOS mother Manju Bala Panda's family of 11 children.

Panda's family is among the 20 housed in the six-acre campus on the outskirts of Delhi.

Originally from Paradip in Odisha, Panda has "mothered" 23 children during her 22-year association with SOS. All of them are now settled with jobs in places like Hotel Radisson and Indigo Airlines and have families of their own.

It was a wish to work with and for children that brought Panda so far from her home.

"I worked with an anganwadi for some time. Then somebody told me about this place. My parents were against this decision at first. But now they are fine, I visit them once a year."
"This place has given me everything...so many brothers and sisters, a loving mother. When I am at college I keep thinking about coming back."