Delhi: As mercury drops, people at ‘big city sleep out’ get cold feet

NEW DELHI: It was meant to be a gathering of 2,000 people showing solidarity with the homeless. But as Saturday night wore on and temperatures dropped, so did the participants. Eventually, not more than 150 people, most of them homeless, stayed the night at Connaught Place’s central park for The Big Sleep Out, with 50 cities across the globe participating simultaneously.
This reporter was among the 30-odd people with homes who got a taste of what it feels like to spend the night out in the biting cold. The event started at 6.30pm, when Central Park was filled with people, with performances by various musical bands.
Many people slowly began to leave, and by 10.30pm, there were around 400 people remaining. When the performances ended at 11pm, a big chunk of the remaining people got up, kept their mattresses aside and left the park as well.
The homeless, however, remained excited. “My husband is handicapped and I have to feed three children. For us, sleeping on the streets is a battle we fight every night. Every morning is like a victory,” said Babli, a toy seller.
Some feel unsafe, others fear illness, leaving homeless to fend for selves
When asked about what made them change their decision of staying back, many said they felt unsafe. Others said they didn’t want to fall sick in the cold. “We hear so much about women being unsafe nowadays. That’s always been the case but now that it’s such a highlighted issue, my family will never allow me to stay out at night, even if I wish to. No matter how crowded a place is, it is never safe for a woman,” said Sheetal Tiwari, a resident of west Delhi, as she walked out of the park.
A group of homeless children, meanwhile, ran and jumping around the place, rejoicing at the fact that the park was cleaner than usual.
By midnight, most of the crowd had left, leaving behind almost 120 homeless people along with 30 others, mostly NGO volunteers.
However, the rise and fall in number of people did not hamper the enthusiasm of the homeless, for whom this was nothing but a grand party. With little to rejoice about, Babli, the toy seller, said she was glad that so many people had come to support them.
Babli and her children stayed up till 1am. As the temperature dipped further, she and her son came to the stage to take away another blanket as the four of them didn’t fit in the two blankets they’d taken earlier.
This reporter walked around, speaking to people. But around 1.15am, the sweater and jacket were inadequate defence against the chill. It was freezing. So, this reporter took a blanket and made a place for herself on the stage, where many people lay tucked in.
Heaps and heaps of blankets and mattresses disappeared as people took these away to spots where they’d decided to sleep. As the night wore on, one blanket seemed woefully inadequate.
It was 2am and the place seemed just as lively as before, but only a lot colder. This reporter realised why she was so cold. As her blanket was being spread on the stage, a bottle fell and water had left parts of her clothes drenched.
This little incident led to much discomfort but also highlights the various odd the homeless have to fight against each and every night.
With the cold becoming unbearable now, this reporter decided to get out of the blanket and take a stroll. Next to the stage was a group of schoolboys, awake and chatting.
“Whenever we go out at night with our parents, we notice children our age sleeping on the streets. When we got to know about the event through someone in our school, we decided we cannot miss this chance. Even though it took a lot of persuading, we managed to get our parents to let us go. We plan to stay here till everyone else leaves,” said Amit Mishra, who had come with three of his friends and slept on the stairs amongst the homeless.
The Central Park did not see a quiet moment all night. Men, women and kids stayed up to talk until 5.30am, when the homeless were woken up and they, along with the blankets they were given, walked away from their party – to live another normal day.
This event was organised by several civil service organisations supported by North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) and Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) in a bid to increase awareness about homelessness.
Indu Prakash, national coordinator for World Big Sleep Out said he is glad to see the turnout. He said he understood why many people didn’t choose to stay. “We will ensure that the next sleep out sees a bigger turnout and in the meanwhile we all should do our bit to help those who cannot really help themselves,” he said.