Sonali, 14 year old, caretaker to younger siblings. She cooks for them, feeds them, and rocks them to sleep as her mother would.
“My mother kept us safe like an umbrella does, from the heat and rain of life,” said Sonali, holding back tears. “I imagine her being close to me. That’s what keeps me going.”
Sonali and her siblings are among more than 3,000 Indian children who have been orphaned during the pandemic, according to state governments.
They had come to deliver an “orphan pension” to the children, enough money to last for the summer. Bank accounts were opened in their names. The officials dropped off large bags of rice.
Saucer-eyed, Sonali listened carefully as they rattled off a list of instructions for using her bank account. Her siblings — Jagabalia, 8, and Bhabana, 5 — looked on listlessly, clutching their sister’s blue dress.
By Suhasini Raj, New York Times, July 10, 2021
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