Ten children who picked rags, and a red sweater each

Most of the children in Indradhanush come from the Gadhiya Lohar settlements. In 2016 the Foundation's volunteers also began working with children who spent their days collecting rags and waste on the streets of Bareilly, and in October 2016 ten of them were admitted to school.

On 30 October 2016, a day before Diwali, the children came to the Foundation's office in their new school uniforms. There were sweets for Diwali, new clothes, and a red sweater each for the winter. The photographs from that afternoon — ten children in red sweaters holding their bags — became the Foundation's favourite picture of what Indradhanush is for.

That school year Indradhanush supported more than 100 children: 91 from the Gadhiya Lohar community, these 10, and others from poor families of the city. At the annual function the following May, it was the boys who had once picked rags who performed Surya Namaskar on stage.