In the early 1990s, as V Mani would commute to work, he’d pass the Bengaluru Central Jail every day. He’d regularly come across the children of those convicts, crying, or roaming the streets with no one to care for them.
Mani and his wife Saroji were moved by the plight of these children, who, they felt, were carrying out a life imprisonment sentence of their own.
After years of saving, they took a bold step. With their own children grown and settled, they decided to bring four children from outside the jail premises into their own home. With the savings they had, they promised to give these children a better life.
Image courtesy: Socare
In 1999, what started as a humble home for kids, grew into Society’s Care for the Indigent (SOCARE). Their mission, as it was before, is to provide shelter, education, and a future for children whose lives had been overshadowed by their parents’ prison sentences.
Image courtesy: Socare
However, supporting the children wasn’t an easy task. Mani even collected and sold old papers to make ends meet. “If you can’t give more, give Re 1,” he would say. “He sacrificed everything to help these kids,” remembers Raghavachari, a long-time supporter.
Image courtesy: Socare
With donations and his own efforts, Mani and Saroji built a place where these children could heal and grow. They opened hostels in Laggere, giving these children a home, but more importantly, a sense of belonging.
Image courtesy: Socare
The children were sent to nearby schools based on their abilities. For those older kids who struggled in school, SOCARE opened a skill centre in Gulbarga, offering them a new path toward self-sufficiency and dignity.
Image courtesy: Socare
“Society looks at a convict’s family as criminals,” says Raghavachari. But at SOCARE, children are given the means to rise above the stigma. “They look at the organisation as a source of strength,” he adds.
Image courtesy: Socare
SOCARE also helps children get out of toxic families and homes. As Raghavachari recalls, a bright young girl once called him after her Class 10 exams. Scared, she said, “If I go home, my father will marry me off.” SOCARE was able to intervene, and today, she is pursuing a law degree.
Image courtesy: Socare
Years after their passing, Mani and Saroji’s legacy lives on as their organisation continues to uplift these children.
Image courtesy: Socare
“Without SOCARE, so many of us would not be in these positions where we’re living settled lives,” says Sangeeta Nagraj, one of SOCARE’s many success stories.