But for the narrow branch of a tree that keeps the dew away, Raja and Kanhaiya would have certainly rolled down the slope that has been serving as their bed for several years now.
The homeless duo in Kashmere Gate have chosen this uncomfortable and inconvenient sleeping spot just because of the tree.
A few feet away on level ground, Noor Alam and Ram Chander are huddled next to each other under layers of blankets. A pile of burnt wood and garbage next to them suggests they must have had a warm evening.
There is no tree over the heads of these two, as is the case with half-a-dozen other homeless men sleeping nearby in the cold winter night.
These men have chosen to ignore a partially-occupied shelter home located barely a few metres up the slope.
‘No one messes with us’
“Together, the 10 of us are strong. This has been our undisputed space for five to six years. No one dares to mess around with us or steal from us when we are asleep,” says Alam, who pushes carts in a market nearby.
“Inside the shelters, we are forced to separate. There are bullies inside who beat us with iron rods at the slightest pretext,” adds Chander, who does the same job.
Up the slope, on a narrow parapet, a coughing Madan Singh tries to sleep. He had tried to spend a night in a shelter home a few days back, but was beaten up by other occupants when he lit a beedi during the night.
“They did not have to beat me so bad. They could have simply told me I was causing an inconvenience. I would have gone out to smoke,” says Madan.
He never returned to the shelter home again.
There are 12 night shelters — five permanent structures and seven new tents for the winters — for the homeless living near Nigam Bodh Ghat in Kashmere Gate.
A visit by The Hindu on a chilly night earlier last week revealed that the permanent structures are less than half full. The tents have barely had any takers.
Drunk men not allowed
Suraj Kumar, a labourer who sleeps under a flyover nearby, says he chose to live outside as shelter homes do not allow drunk men inside.
Suraj shares his bed with a dog: “I can’t sleep unless I am drunk. Shelter homes do not allow drunk men inside. At least here I have a permanent shelter [under the flyover]. I don’t mind sharing my space with the dog.”
A dirty spot next to a drain has been his home ever since he landed in Delhi nearly a year ago. Like dozens of others around him, Suraj has put up pictures of deities on the wall next to his bed so that people do not urinate at his sleeping spot.
Mintu, an aged man sleeping nearby, reveals that it is only a matter of time before shelter homes are bursting at the seams.
“Most homeless people are currently away working at wedding venues. Even if I find space in a tent today, I will be forced to vacate it sooner or later,” he says.
Shelter home caretakers say they have been making efforts to bring even drunk men inside. A group of “rescuers” wander around, waking people and urging them to move inside.
“If I stay in the Rain Basera, who will look after my rickshaw,” Devi Pande asks one of the rescuers, even as he struggles to accommodate his legs on his cycle-rickshaw.
At a large ground right next to the crematorium, Bucho Singh and his friends are spreading out torn mattresses on the ground, a tree will serve as their roof.
“Please let us sleep here. Your mattresses are full of bed bugs,” he pleads with the rescuers.
‘Unhygienic’
“The Rain Baseras allot separate beds to us everyday. They are not clean. People even urinate on them sometimes,” Bucho says when the rescuers leave. The men are waiting for the ground lights to be switched off.
“The lights inside the shelter homes are kept on throughout the night. We just can’t sleep,” he adds.
Dharm Raj, the caretaker of one of the shelter homes, dismisses all their reasons as excuses.
“They just want to be in a position to grab blankets which some rich people frequently distribute them among the homeless. Sleeping outside ensures they are first in the queue. They sell the blankets to buy alcohol,” says Raj.
