July 1, 2000, I was born. I was named David by my father. July 2, 2009, I was on the streets in India, alone. My parents passed away three years earlier, leaving me to fend for myself out on the streets. My parents died of sickness that was curable but unfortunately we did not have enough money for the medicine. I was alone on the streets of India, no one to live with, no money to buy the things I needed to survive. I had to steal from people and the stores near the streets I live on.

But one day I stole from a person that changed my life.

I had no money, no one to live with, so I had to live on the streets and the only way to survive is to steal from people. Sometimes I’d be caught and would have to spend a night  behind bars. Jail was better than street, it was very cold but I at least get a free meal to fill up my empty stomach. The officers said it would teach me a lesson not to steal, “better not do again if you don’t wanna freeze to death.” But it was the only way for me to survive. No one was sheltering me and no one was providing me food or clothings. I tried to get in trouble as much possible so I can get the free meal in jail.

May 5, 2009, the streets were busy as always, crowded with cars and motorcycles. on the sidewalk people like me were lying with their backpacks and blanks next to them.The streets were narrow between tall builds, not the building you imagined, not the fancy one that are clean and looks new everyday but old ones that looks dirty and rusty, it looks like it has been standing for thousand of years, it looks like it’s about to collapse soon. It was very hot, I was sweating. It was so hot that you can see the heat waves. On that day a woman was shopping and was observing around, she caught my eye. she was tall and I could tell she was not from around the streets. She was wore a white tank top, her skin was not tan like most of us. It was pale, she had blonde hair and blue eyes. She didn’t caught my eyes it was actually her handbag. I thought to myself,  if I got a hold of that of that handbag I won’t be hungry for a few weeks, that handbag was made out of crocodile skin so i assumed she must be rich.

I slowly creeped up to her and grabbed her bag, I took off but when I look behind I saw someone ran after me. I only got a glimpse of him but he was tall and very muscular but he was not that big, not bodyguard big but he was pretty big compared to skinny to bone me. I said to myself with a smile “ the bag must have something important in it.” I was hoping that the important “something’’was money. I mean what else could be more important than money, with money you can buy food and clothings and find a shelter for yourself. So you don't have to spend your days  on the streets, very cold streets in december and very hot streets in july.

I was faster than the man but since the streets was so busy and crowded I couldn’t run as fast as I wanted to and soon enough the man caught up to me. He immediately grabbed the bag from me, a second later the woman showed up on a motorcycle, the owner of the motorcycle dropped her off and she took out some money from her pocket and paid the man. She walked up to us and said “go easy, he’s only a child.” She introduces herself, “My name is August, what's yours” I replied “ David.” “ I am 25 years old, how old are you” “nine,” I replied. I thought to myself man she is old how could anyone live that long, I didn’t want to suffer that long.

She asked me “how do you end up in this situation,on streets,where are your parents?”
It was awkward at first telling someone a stranger who you never met before your life story but I told her everything. I sense that could trust her, she not like the other people who kicked me out for sheltering myself in their store, “get out of here you dirty brat, you're gonna scared my customer away,” they’ll said. I told her about my parents, and how  I spend days on the streets feeling hopeless and wanting the suffering  to stop, how are hard it is just to live a day, how I lived through my days on the brink of starving. I told her about the people have to deal with everyday, the rich but selfish ones not offering to help, not even a cent, the ones who kick me out for sheltering myself in their place, they won’t let me spend a night, and the ones with comfortable living robbing from me instead me robbing from them, they take the little money I made from sitting all day under the hot sun and the cold sky. I told her about how I hated the government for letting me continue to suffer on the street.

Her expression was pity.

She told me to make a choose, “ you can leave this old city and everything else behind or you can stay and I’ll give you all the money I have,” she said. It was an easy decision, I went with her.

Thirteen years later I am still grateful to August for ending my suffer on the street. Now i have a job and make a good amount of money. I want to spend most of the money on providing for the people who live on the street, buy them food and clothings and materials they need to survive on the streets  so they don’t have to starve or suffer from the cold. I want help them out as much as I can so that they won’t suffer as much as I did. I want to do something the government never did for me, be there for them.