Daily Archives: August 13, 2014

Bus stops to bare floors: Where children sleep

Every day, an ever-increasing number of children leave home, driven by poverty, abuse and urban-rural migration to join multitudes of children living on and off the streets. Feisty and innovative they learn to survive in the squalid nooks and crannies of urban India; very often forced to sleep in the open, on footpaths, outside temples, under bridges, at bus stops and railway platforms; few ever experience the warmth, comfort and safety of a bed. They are India’s un-restful future!
Inspired by James Mollison’s ‘Where children sleep’ Leher curated images capturing where India’s homeless children sleep. From the innards of industrial pipes to mounds of soft dirt, from bus stops to bare floors they learn the art of converting unlikely spaces into their temporary retreat.

A hammock bed near a work site (Photo: Adnan Abidi/Reuters)
A hammock bed near a work site (Photo: Adnan Abidi/Reuters)
The threshold of a shuttered shop (Photo: Bikas Das/AP)
The threshold of a shuttered shop (Photo: Bikas Das/AP)
A street corner in Northern India (Photo: Showkat Shafi/Al Jazeera)
A street corner in Northern India (Photo: Showkat Shafi/Al Jazeera)
A pipe used for industrial effuse (Photo: Unknown)
A pipe used for industrial effuse (Photo: Unknown)
Railway children’ at the railway station (Photo: Dario Mitidieri)
Railway children at the railway station (Photo: Dario Mitidieri)
An abandoned bus that doubles as a shelter (Photo: Unknown)
An abandoned bus that doubles as a shelter (Photo: Unknown)
A mound of soil at a construction site (Photo- Mustafa Quraishi/AP)
A mound of soil at a construction site (Photo- Mustafa Quraishi/AP)
A mosquito net on a street corner (Photo: Danish Siddiqui/Reuters)
A mosquito net on a street corner (Photo: Danish Siddiqui/Reuters)
A temporary shelter home in New Delhi (Photo: Money Sharma/EPA)
A temporary shelter home in New Delhi (Photo: Money Sharma/EPA)
A wedding hall doubling as a shelter during a natural calamity (Photo- Ahmad Masood/Reuters)
A wedding hall doubling as a shelter during a natural calamity (Photo- Ahmad Masood/Reuters)