DEEPA

7 year old Deepa works at the Bhandra West traffic lights, selling flowers to passing motorists. She buys them at the flower market early in the morning, and spends the day trying to make a small profit – sometimes until late in the evening. She lives with her 3 brothers and grandmother in the Khardandar slum. Her father died in 2008 of an alcohol related disease, and her mother has effectively abandoned her children since then. Deepa is forced to work to help feed her younger siblings, and is often left in sole charge of her 2-year-old brother. Most of all she wants to return to school to become a doctor.