Have heard so many politicians say that they want to do service to the poor wonder if even 1% of the population is doing anything .As often i see some unpleasant situations around me and feel helpless to change the situation .At least people in power , if they put their mind to it can make a difference !! so , shud i get into politics or something -but ppl i know have always told me it's a mess and u will become one if you get into it !
So many young children coming with those glass cloth or ear buds -trying to force you to buy and the moment u buy -another three or four follow them and insist you buy from them too. What pained me was when this small girl kept saying she was hungry when sujay n i were sipping in to the elanee by the road side. Sujay bought her one and offered as she was hungry .Felt great to see him do that (i was thinking about it and he just did it ) .This cunning elanee lady asked him if it was for that girl and she will give it to her later -as we were done with ours and were waiting for the lady to give it to her .Sujay strongly told her that it's okay for us to wait but he wants her to give it to the girl before we leave .When we were done - i saw another girl on the other side trying to sell her duster and ear buds .And there were also two more ladies and what is worse -one of them was pregnant .My favourite question popped up on my mind , how on earth people plan kids when they can't afford a meal for themselves !!!! bang came sujay's usual reply -that is their only entertainment that they can afford ...again my question : i wonder if they have ever heard of condoms or know that they can use some protection ...well even when the most educated , socially aware are not taking precautions , how can we expect them to do that . If people who plan kids are not responsible enough to think about their children's future , who will ? I know all of us can think about contributing to the poor etc .But won't it help instead of making them dependant on others financially -attacking the root cause will solve the issue to certain extent .The children born under this circumstances grow up in to individuals who are more vulnerable as they wud even rob or steal to afford a living as parents force them to work (this road side selling) at this tender age when they shud be out playing or studying.
So many young children coming with those glass cloth or ear buds -trying to force you to buy and the moment u buy -another three or four follow them and insist you buy from them too. What pained me was when this small girl kept saying she was hungry when sujay n i were sipping in to the elanee by the road side. Sujay bought her one and offered as she was hungry .Felt great to see him do that (i was thinking about it and he just did it ) .This cunning elanee lady asked him if it was for that girl and she will give it to her later -as we were done with ours and were waiting for the lady to give it to her .Sujay strongly told her that it's okay for us to wait but he wants her to give it to the girl before we leave .When we were done - i saw another girl on the other side trying to sell her duster and ear buds .And there were also two more ladies and what is worse -one of them was pregnant .My favourite question popped up on my mind , how on earth people plan kids when they can't afford a meal for themselves !!!! bang came sujay's usual reply -that is their only entertainment that they can afford ...again my question : i wonder if they have ever heard of condoms or know that they can use some protection ...well even when the most educated , socially aware are not taking precautions , how can we expect them to do that . If people who plan kids are not responsible enough to think about their children's future , who will ? I know all of us can think about contributing to the poor etc .But won't it help instead of making them dependant on others financially -attacking the root cause will solve the issue to certain extent .The children born under this circumstances grow up in to individuals who are more vulnerable as they wud even rob or steal to afford a living as parents force them to work (this road side selling) at this tender age when they shud be out playing or studying.
haven't we heard of even some terrorists confessing they did not have money and they came in to this because their parents will be paid 10k -imagine their life was worth just that!
i think even ajmal kasab in his one of the earlier trials confessed something similar
how can we change this ..i feel responsible to do something about it and i wish many other
people think abt it too.These days suddenly i get so affected when i see some children doing a lot of labour work .I witness atleast 2 or 3 of them in my daily life .Saravana bhavan has small boys -they shud be 15 or 16 clearing tables for u .And these small time shops -near my house the mahalakshmi stores has a boy who will be just 12 or max 14 -he comes home to deliver stuff and my mom is too generous to tip him on his every visit as she feels so bad for him .Even my medical shop that delivers medicines home have small boys working for them who are actually from the owner's village and they are given food and accommodation (as this kind of labour fee is economical for a business) and some meager wages.
We are doing a campaign for tigers -Just 1411 left ...this campaign is all over for which we can hardly take any action ( u see , i don't live in a forest or jungle -how am supposed to save them yaar?)
but don't u think at least for child labour - we can influence certain people not to do that or even we can oppose ppl /companies doing it ?? Can't some awareness campaign be done about child labour . Don't u think children -the future of india is more important than the national animal of india?
There used to be the advertisements on CRY airing on TV , but they only say -contribute .But no one tells you how we can eradicate it or voice against it .As not all the time can we afford money -and even if we want to offer financial help , we would want be sure , it's been used for the right situation .And in this case,we don't know if it's actually helping the person we may want to help .
These are all just questions with no answers .
I have just one simple solution .If all of us can put our mind to it -WE CAN CHANGE SOME % of the children from this issue. Am sure all of us have maids coming home for domestic help.All probability they need a lot of help with their children's future .If we can offer to help one of the maids who works very good for you and has a small child who is school going age -am sure ,they would be damn happy that their children's future are taken care of and may become even more responsible with a little bit if support like this .Already , many of the house maids that i have come across are so sure of wanting to give their children good education and they are slogging for it with so many difficulties lying ahead of them.
We need not pay them the money directly , but we can offer to pay their child's school fees directly .I dunno it's just a thought ..let's see if it can work !!
All of you -Welcome to pour in your thoughts as well!!
2 comments:
Its a very nice thought viji's. It's kinda very hard to try and send the boy at mahalakshmi stores and medical shop to school and its probably even harder to monitor what they do. But this is about children not being able to go to school.
My athimber is a principal of lady shivswamy school in mylapore and he tells me there are girl child drop outs every year and this is especially after 5th std. The school has set up a scholarship fund and this helps this girl children to continue their education. I have thought of contributing to that fund, this will be my start to take social responsibility in my own life.
So I guess a time has come for us to take action on our own instead of depending on the politicians.
I can understand ur plight....here the iron ladys kids come to deliver the clothes...they are studying in school still cant bear seeing them doing it in weekends. I used to talk to them and give snacks....should see the smiles on their faces...pricesless!!
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