The sky grew darker with every step that I took, as I walked along the road, punctuating my brisk pace with several sneezes at a time. I espied a bright yellow streak of light tearing through the mist in the dark, emanating from a bulb in the backyard of a house. At first I decided to head straight for my cozy home ignoring whatever was happening but as I drew near, the distinct sobs of a young girl caught my attention. I approached the rusted iron gate with a degree of caution and peeped through.
I could clearly make out a young girl sitting among several piles of unwashed dishes rubbing one erratically, when suddenly a woman emerged from the house and dumped more plates in front of her. She shouted something and went back into the house. The girl who appeared to be not more than ten years of age continued to sob. Unable to stand any longer due to the chilling wind I left the place. A serious case of child labour, I thought.
The next day after some investigation I found out that a District Judge lived in that house with his wife and had no children. On being enquired by neighbours about the little girl, he always said that she was a distant relative who had lost her parents and he treated her like a daughter as he had none. But I knew better. So I took the initiative to help the girl.
Being too lily livered to perform a heroic deed of raising my voice against a District Judge, I wrote about this matter to an influential human rights activist whom I was acquainted with. She took immediate action and the matter was fixed within two months, with the guilty taken to task and the girl sent to an orphanage.
With thousands of such sad cases across the country, can we citizens rest in peace? The bitter truth is-Yes we can and we are doing so. Tiny, soft hands that must hold only pencil, paper and toys are made rough and hard through hours of labour. But we are content to remain ignorant. Aren't we? Little souls who must play around in the sun and on the green grass are enslaved as workers in factories, waiters in hotels and servants at home. But we are happy to lead our lives, aware yet silently aloof. Aren't we?
Brilliant brains that could have accomplished the impossible if proper education was given to them are made to scrape off food from our plates, clean our cars and polish our shoes. But we are satisfied to see potential future leaders, scientists and sportsmen being forced to remain illiterate and below poverty line, only because we are too busy to look in to their lives. Aren't we? Child labour is a problem that needs to be addressed nation-wide and can only be tackled by individual participation. But we choose to remain ignorant. Don't we? Well, if you do not, then the time is now, the person is you and the place is where you are. Go out and do your bit.
By,
ANKIT NEERAV
I could clearly make out a young girl sitting among several piles of unwashed dishes rubbing one erratically, when suddenly a woman emerged from the house and dumped more plates in front of her. She shouted something and went back into the house. The girl who appeared to be not more than ten years of age continued to sob. Unable to stand any longer due to the chilling wind I left the place. A serious case of child labour, I thought.
The next day after some investigation I found out that a District Judge lived in that house with his wife and had no children. On being enquired by neighbours about the little girl, he always said that she was a distant relative who had lost her parents and he treated her like a daughter as he had none. But I knew better. So I took the initiative to help the girl.
Being too lily livered to perform a heroic deed of raising my voice against a District Judge, I wrote about this matter to an influential human rights activist whom I was acquainted with. She took immediate action and the matter was fixed within two months, with the guilty taken to task and the girl sent to an orphanage.
With thousands of such sad cases across the country, can we citizens rest in peace? The bitter truth is-Yes we can and we are doing so. Tiny, soft hands that must hold only pencil, paper and toys are made rough and hard through hours of labour. But we are content to remain ignorant. Aren't we? Little souls who must play around in the sun and on the green grass are enslaved as workers in factories, waiters in hotels and servants at home. But we are happy to lead our lives, aware yet silently aloof. Aren't we?
Brilliant brains that could have accomplished the impossible if proper education was given to them are made to scrape off food from our plates, clean our cars and polish our shoes. But we are satisfied to see potential future leaders, scientists and sportsmen being forced to remain illiterate and below poverty line, only because we are too busy to look in to their lives. Aren't we? Child labour is a problem that needs to be addressed nation-wide and can only be tackled by individual participation. But we choose to remain ignorant. Don't we? Well, if you do not, then the time is now, the person is you and the place is where you are. Go out and do your bit.
By,
ANKIT NEERAV
"Yup ! no country is perfect unless its citizens make it" and do their bit......
ReplyDeleteHope this CWG goes well ...