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Just beneath the giant bill-boards asking the passer-by to have a `breakfast with biscuits' at Rs. 5 only or introducing the motorist for the world of `Kelloggs' and so on at the busy Jadavpur junction, five-year- old Babai is having the feast of his life-time at a dingy hotel adjacent to a newly built multi- storied.
Babai is one of the 11-odd child beggars who roam this place - an upmarket locality facing Jadavpur University - only one of the thousands (approximately 10,000) in the age group of 4-8 years (mostly), seeking alms at every nook and corner of this big bright city.
Babai's father, a rickshaw-puller, "married another woman" and left four children and his wife behind, at the Garia slum. Babai, therefore, spends his days and nights in Jadavpur.