Add some color!
Yesterday night, I was planning to write about my childhood as it was really memorable (in a way); at least for my parents. I kept it on hold as some other incident made me think about an entirely different issue.
Last week, I went out looking for a mobile handsfree and stepped in to a shop. And there I met a boy who was trying to help me out with my shopping requirement. He was hardly 12 and looked skinny but energetic. As the salesman, he was working really hard, trying to help out one customer after another. When stepped out of the shop, I felt a little bad and thought about somehow informing this to some child welfare organization, as it is a clear case of child labour. Then again some other scenarios that I came across in the past, stopped me thinking any further. Read on;
Scenario 1
Last year, for almost three months, I was staying at a guest house in Bangalore. There were 2-3 guys to take care of the occupants and among them there was a kid of 12-13 years age. He used to dress up well and do some not-so-hard chores in the guest house. He was looking healthy and happy, so even then I felt that I should report it as child labour, I refrained. And I think the reasons are quite obvious; he can't afford education for some reason (money/will), at least he has a good job compared to the all other jobs out there, safe from child abusers.
However when I went to the guest house after a month's time, he was not there. I asked the other caretakers about him and they told me that some occupant complained about child labour and he is no more there. If he was really fortunate in finding a job he will be working as a hotel cleaner or as a building labourer now. I do not even want to think about the other alternative, which I'm going to explain in scenario 2.
Scenario 2
This happened at the Jakkasandra bus stop in Bangalore, by 9.30 am. Time and place are really important here. I was waiting for my bus to the Bangalore airport and as Murphy is very much fond of me, the bus got late by 40 minutes. So as I mentioned in my earlier posts, I was observing people there too. Things were looking fine, till I found out something weird about the little boy of 11-12 years of age and the man, who were sitting with him at the bus stop. The boy was dark in complexion and the guy was exceptionally fair, which was unplesantly suspicious for me. To my utter dismay, I realized that the guy was not keeping the child close to him because of paternal love or anything like that! I really do not want to explain what was going on and was not sure what to do then. Then the only thing i could think about is to act like a police constable or something, staring at him and pretending like talking on phone to someone. As I started doing this, he stopped what he was doing and sat in a normal position. I realized that my trick is working and continued till the boy left and he jumped in to a bus and escaped! The bus-stop was kind of crowded and there were a lot of people, where this guy was courageous enough to do such an atrocious act. Very clearly, the boy was with him for money, which is the saddest part.
After witnessing this incident I think twice before thinking about reporting child labour, especially with the one who is like the kid in scenario 1 or the one I mentioned in the beginning of the story. Of course, they also deserve better life, better education and a better future. But considering the second scenario, I prefer that kid to work in a safe environment.
Our children, who are the future and only hope of India, are lost in the streets. They are exploited by criminal pedophiles and these kids fall in to an non-returnable trap. Personally, I am really concerned about this scenario and I will try to do (even now trying to some extent) everything possible to help out the kids who are abandoned in the street.
The grown ups are spoiling our country (leaving the minority) and only children can make a difference. They are not exposed to the conditioning disease and hence they have dreams, which we might call impossible. So instead of setting the wrong role models and being not responsive to the people who take away colors from their life, let us do something. At least let us think of doing of something for them in future, when we will be capable of doing.
Add some color to their life, that's the best that we can do! I will.
Image from Flickr
Last week, I went out looking for a mobile handsfree and stepped in to a shop. And there I met a boy who was trying to help me out with my shopping requirement. He was hardly 12 and looked skinny but energetic. As the salesman, he was working really hard, trying to help out one customer after another. When stepped out of the shop, I felt a little bad and thought about somehow informing this to some child welfare organization, as it is a clear case of child labour. Then again some other scenarios that I came across in the past, stopped me thinking any further. Read on;
Scenario 1
Last year, for almost three months, I was staying at a guest house in Bangalore. There were 2-3 guys to take care of the occupants and among them there was a kid of 12-13 years age. He used to dress up well and do some not-so-hard chores in the guest house. He was looking healthy and happy, so even then I felt that I should report it as child labour, I refrained. And I think the reasons are quite obvious; he can't afford education for some reason (money/will), at least he has a good job compared to the all other jobs out there, safe from child abusers.
However when I went to the guest house after a month's time, he was not there. I asked the other caretakers about him and they told me that some occupant complained about child labour and he is no more there. If he was really fortunate in finding a job he will be working as a hotel cleaner or as a building labourer now. I do not even want to think about the other alternative, which I'm going to explain in scenario 2.
Scenario 2
This happened at the Jakkasandra bus stop in Bangalore, by 9.30 am. Time and place are really important here. I was waiting for my bus to the Bangalore airport and as Murphy is very much fond of me, the bus got late by 40 minutes. So as I mentioned in my earlier posts, I was observing people there too. Things were looking fine, till I found out something weird about the little boy of 11-12 years of age and the man, who were sitting with him at the bus stop. The boy was dark in complexion and the guy was exceptionally fair, which was unplesantly suspicious for me. To my utter dismay, I realized that the guy was not keeping the child close to him because of paternal love or anything like that! I really do not want to explain what was going on and was not sure what to do then. Then the only thing i could think about is to act like a police constable or something, staring at him and pretending like talking on phone to someone. As I started doing this, he stopped what he was doing and sat in a normal position. I realized that my trick is working and continued till the boy left and he jumped in to a bus and escaped! The bus-stop was kind of crowded and there were a lot of people, where this guy was courageous enough to do such an atrocious act. Very clearly, the boy was with him for money, which is the saddest part.
After witnessing this incident I think twice before thinking about reporting child labour, especially with the one who is like the kid in scenario 1 or the one I mentioned in the beginning of the story. Of course, they also deserve better life, better education and a better future. But considering the second scenario, I prefer that kid to work in a safe environment.
Our children, who are the future and only hope of India, are lost in the streets. They are exploited by criminal pedophiles and these kids fall in to an non-returnable trap. Personally, I am really concerned about this scenario and I will try to do (even now trying to some extent) everything possible to help out the kids who are abandoned in the street.
The grown ups are spoiling our country (leaving the minority) and only children can make a difference. They are not exposed to the conditioning disease and hence they have dreams, which we might call impossible. So instead of setting the wrong role models and being not responsive to the people who take away colors from their life, let us do something. At least let us think of doing of something for them in future, when we will be capable of doing.
Add some color to their life, that's the best that we can do! I will.
Image from Flickr
Comments
i like this point " I was observing people there too... :)"