Merry Christmas to everyone. The holiday season has arrived, bringing with it hypothermic cold. The rate at which the chill is increasing in the winters every year, I feel the predictions for an upcoming apocalypse in 2012 isn’t far off really. This write is dedicated to all those hapless children who aren’t fortunate enough to gloat about the last toy they ripped to pieces, the last dress that isn’t wearable anymore, the last book they dog-eared, aye even the last night’s meal they just didn’t wish to eat.
My trips to Sambalpur always bring out a myriad of events which not only are heart rendering but also shocking to put it mildly. So here I was chomping down on some French fries( road side, amazing isn’t it?) I see these two girls(at most 8) trying their best to convince an unconvinced customer to buy some paraphernalia which perhaps was no use to him. After all what use could he put to, toy cars which looked they had survived the Ice Age? After much convincing he makes a quick deal and buys a balloon , perhaps only to shoo those kids away. These two bravehearts, appareled only with frocks that were thoroughly worn out, were nevertheless not shy of showing their gratitude with ear-to-ear grins and profuse happiness. They jumped in happiness after the customer was at a safe distance, perhaps feared that the apparent trade was something that was too good to be true. These kids are forced to walk 5-10 km everyday just to get 10-20 bucks which are just the paycheck to their fathers for being such a sorry-ass human being. The money almost always ends up at the illegal liquor stores . But still these kids wore such infectious smiles.
It really made me die a little on the inside. I mean how could I even grumble at those little things like allowances and make terrible faces after being denied a bike on my birthday? These kids faced so much more still they hardly even had sad eyes. Unable to quench my thirst of information I walk up to those girls and no sooner had I reached them did they start their familiar chants of “ Ye dekhiye bhaiya , kinta mast khilona hai. Aur yeh dekhiye kitna acha balloon hai. Isko agar aap chod denge toh yeh ud ke chanda mama tak pahunch jayega.” Amazing was all I could say. How could somebody be so unbelievably immune to their apparent misfortunes? I asked their names. “ Pinky and Milli” pat came the reply. My belief’s were confirmed after a chat with them. Their father was a good- for- nothing drunkard who beat these bundles of life after getting drunk every day. I and my friend each bought a toy car making these kids beam at us as if we were god send…..
And the best thing was what happened at the end… I heard them talk-“ Aaj papa ko paise nahi denge, chalo kuch khaate hai” said Pinky to Milli. Milli nodded in the affirmative… The girls had boiled eggs as dinner and smiled naughty smiles…. Live on rebels … live on...
p.s.- all my earning readers kindly visit the following link and see how you can make a difference. To the non- earning save a few bucks of your allowance and help these kids plzzzz. I will and you can too.
http://www.savethechildren.in/index.html
Getting to read a write up so hard-hitting as this after a long time.
ReplyDeleteHere in B'lore at many auto stands you will see these auto guys just standing with their autos all day long. They will simply stand there all day, never go anywhere unless they get their bargain which is always twenty bucks more than what the meter will run up to.
I always wonder do these men not wanna earn? Why would they, a times a reply comes from smwr inside...they would have married a woman who would would be doing chores in aleast ten houses, so these jerks knw there is money coming and so they can afford to sit their asses down n smoke bidis and go home thrash the wife up snatch her money n go get drunk.
Beats me how they like doing the same shit everyday. Its a sad world.
What makes me glad is you are among the few ppl who notice these things and wanna make a difference. You should be proud of yourself.
You should visit with this site I am registered with, projectwhy.com, Oxfam is also a very good platform if you wanna do smth for underprivileged kids.
Goodluck!
You probably might have observed similar things for sometime now.We come across these incidents in our life,show a bit of false compassion and then move out to indifference.It was grt to see you write about this stuff because ,we as human biengs have progressed materially and gone neanderthal, emotionally and conscientiously.
ReplyDeleteThe very basic sense of compassion is almost extinct.Yes it's tough to see these stuff and easier not to care.But certainly this piece of story's an eyeopener.I should say, at least we should have it in our mind to give back what we have taken as "obviously granted",a priviledged life.Kudos sire great work.let's move some gears to polish off the shackles of poverty and exploitation.
This is one of the most inspirational article i have ever read.No baloney,no swash buckle sentences but plain truth thrown straight at ur face.
ReplyDeleteGreat job San,and i really got to know a lot after visiting the link.
Thanks for the wonderful piece and it feels so great to see like-minded people hover around.
Hope we all can and will make a difference someday.
Once again,a bow to San.
@ cindy- thnx !! and how do u register for projectwhy?? is there any registration involved??
ReplyDelete@ prateek- yeah yeah,,, come bak quickly ,, gettin bored without ya'all.
@ mute- jst wat i knew u would do!! still u r nt completely off the hook though!!
Nice post...we all see such things on a regular basis but don't really observe them. It is not possible for us to imagine what sort of hardships the poor have to undergo. Especially the children...they have to suffer a lot because of their parent's poverty.
ReplyDeleteThis post had a great influence on me, especially considering a few events which occured recently....
One for instance: I was in sambalpur and a man came up to me, he was frm some vill in maharastra. He said that he, his wife and their child were on a trip to puri. In puri they were somehow robbed of their entire cash. He only had Rs 150 on him and asked me to help them. He was very concerned especially for their child(he was barely 2 yrs old). I could do nothing for them as u very well know my financial condition these days...also felt very guilty considering the amount of money I had just spent on my dinner. Hope they have reached their home safe and sound..
And yes not all poor people are heartless and drunkards as the above example clearly shows. They too care for their families. It's poverty that's the main culprit.
Lastly the movie "The Blind Side"(suggested by u) which also had a similar theme made me think about how we are losing great talents just because they are poor...just imagine to what heights our country would rise if we are able to tap the potential of these poor unknown people...
Really touching post...keep up the good work and haan plz write more frequently...
real eyeopener ...makes me feel bad when i dont give a coin to some poor child on the streets...this blog would now make me think twice before i shoo away another street urchin again ...
ReplyDeletePS.. my last blogs name too is pursuit of happyness ...but that title doesnt seem fitting on my post ...ill change it ....MERRY XMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR
@ pyu- oh u too wrote a mini - thesis.. gud !!! neways yeah u touched a few soft issues there!!! and u are right!! country of a billion people and untapped reservoirs everywhere!!
ReplyDelete@anj- hope u have recovered,,, yes do that.. think about wat u have been blessed with and do help these poor kids1!