Care is the invisible scaffolding of childhood in India. It is not only found in classrooms, schemes, or service delivery, but in the everyday acts that keep children held: an elder keeping watch from a verandah, a neighbour stepping in during illness, a tuition teacher doubling as counsellor, a crèche improvised in a shaded corner of a worksite. Much of this labour does not show up in plans or budgets, yet it is the first and most enduring infrastructure a child encounters.