It is often said that pain shapes us, that the most difficult chapters of our lives leave lessons etched deep within us. But for some, pain transcends survival. It transforms into a quiet, formidable force — one that not only redefines their own journey but also ripples outward to change the lives of countless others.

For Devendra Kumar, that transformation began in a place most would struggle to even endure — a crime-ridden slum in Delhi where survival was uncertain, and safety was a privilege. Today, he is the founder of the Ladli Foundation, a grassroots movement that has impacted millions of lives across India and beyond.

But long before the recognition, the awards, or the scale, there was simply a child trying to survive.

“What I went through was not just struggle; it was my training. It made me sensitive, turning my pain into passion and passion into purpose,” Devendra tells The Better India. 

A childhood shaped by survival

Devendra’s story does not begin with opportunity, it begins in the quiet shadow of abandonment, where certainty was scarce and survival came long before hope.

In 1988, when he was just two years old, he was left behind by his parents in a Delhi slum, with his three-day-old sister in his arms. What followed was not a childhood in any conventional sense but a fight for survival shaped by poverty, violence, and neglect.

Raised by extended family members who themselves had limited means, Devendra was pushed into child labour at the age of eight. He sold balloons on the streets, navigating a world where exploitation was common and protection was rare.

Without parental support, he found himself vulnerable to street violence and organised criminal networks that often targeted children like him.

“I used to get beaten up a lot. There was no protection, no control,” he recalls. “Children in such conditions are easy targets.”

In search of safety, he began volunteering informally with local community policing initiatives. What started as an attempt to find refuge, helping clean grounds or assisting in small activities, slowly became something deeper.

That space gave him something he had never experienced before: a sense of belonging and safety.

It was here that the seed of volunteering was planted, a seed that would eventually grow into a life’s mission.

Turning personal struggle........

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