Ranjith M.

Birthday: Unknown (UKG)

Ranjith and his older brother Vijay showed up on the first day of school this year looking like they had spent the past year living on the street. This is not written here for dramatic effect, it is simply the best way to describe them. They had an air of wildness about them. Sometimes the term wild is used playfully, like “Man, the kids were wild today, weren’t they!?” But when we use the term here it is not meant to be playful. Wild, as in these boys behave as if they have been taking care of themselves--unsupervised--for most of their lives. Possibly because of this Ranjith and Vijay have been virtually inseparable since their arrival. Ranjith looks like Vijay, talks like Vijay, and behaves like Vijay. The longer they are here, the more we’re learning that they are really a couple of softies. When playing with the volunteers, Ranjith will reach out for the hand of whoever he’s closest to. He understands that there is a language barrier with the volunteers and doesn’t try to speak Tamil (his native tongue) with them, but still tries to communicate; mostly through pointing and gesturing. Playing with Ranjith is like a beautiful extended game of charades. A game that, because of his surprising sweetness, you always leave feeling you’ve won.