A child is a lamp to be lighted not a vessel to be filled…

“A child is a father of man.’’ This famous line is from William Wordsworth poem, The Rainbow, which refers to the importance of a child for the development of the human race. Childhood is the time to garner the best physical, intellectual and emotional capacity to fulfill the duty towards the nation and to one’s own self. However this simple rule of nature has been crippled by the ever growing menace of child labour.

“Fight for the future of young lives. Who knows we may find the next President working in a hotel…”

Child abuse is one of the most heinous and inhumane crimes done against humanity. It means to maltreat a child psychologically and emotionally. In the modern era of machine and technological advancement, children in every country are callously exploited. In our own country, for making crackers and ‘bidis’  , small kids are engaged because of their nimble fingers. In fact, India has a high threshold when it comes to child labour.

These children need to spend their days in the fantasy world of fairy lands and should weave the garden of dreams, but the irony of fate is that they are either working in the dingy cells of factories or working on roadside ‘dhabas’ just to scratch a few coins in their hands!

Can we weed-out this stigma of the society? Though it is a desirable goal but the eradication of child labour seems to be a herculean task in the current scenario. The Indian government is committed to the task of ensuring that no child remains illiterate, hungry and sans medical care. When this ideal will be achieved is a million dollar question!

Poverty is the root cause of all evils. Affording even one square meal a day is like climbing Everest for the poor and deprived families who then compel their children to work. In the process, the childhood of these children is stolen, who roll with the situation and chip off bits of them to prop up the family members economically. Households may have to suffer pangs of hunger if the children are withdrawn from work.

Let’s have an action replay. 1954 film, Boot Polish, had clear glimpses of child labour and also, how children lose out on their childhood. No doubt, India has so many children but very little childhood!  “…nanhe-munne bachche teri muththi me kya hai?....muththi me hai taqdeer hamari…”  is one of the songs in the movie which compel me to cook a question – is the destiny of the victims of this cruelty really in their own hands?  In the matter-of-fact, their ‘taqdeer’ is in the hands of the employers of child labour.

The movie ends on a happy note as the young protagonists (who acted as cobblers) are adopted by someone. From their clothes to education to the pettiest of things...everything is taken care of by their new parents.  But in real life, not in the reel one, things are not so welcoming and bright!

“Dollar Bahu”

“Experience has taught me that honesty is not the mark of any particular class nor is it related to education or wealth….It cannot be taught at any university. In most people, it springs naturally from the heart.” Sudha Murthy fits quite well in these lines written by none other than her only. Honest thoughts ooze out from her tales and this thing arrests readers’ interests in her books. She leaves no stone unturned in making her writings absorbing and also in adding fervour of authenticity and originality which steal the hearts of the people. This prolific writer is praiseworthy whose works are always laden with some or the other social message.
 If ever in life you feel drained of inspiration, pick up her books, read them as they are the slimmest and trimmest source of inspiration especially “Wise & Otherwise”. You will get so wrapped up in Murthy’s books that you would not realise that flies have started hunting your disheveled, tangled hair and hover  over your head. To tidy up yourself (which you didn’t because of the engrossing stuff), you will have to put down the book which would be no cake walk….The statement does not seem to be exaggerated! “Dollar Bahu” – one of Murthy’s attention-grabbing pieces, is a beautifully scripted story of how life gets higgledy-piggledy in the process of reaping money at the cost of relationships; how money (Dollar) rules somebody’s ideas, perspectives and demeanour and creates gaps; how gold is mistaken for copper and copper for gold!
 A good girl with a soft heart, Vinuta, ties knot with Girish, a bank clerk. She adapts herself to the air of the house and as a docile ‘bahu’ takes care of everyone with heart and soul. Gauramma, the typical Indian ‘saas’ reeks of hunger for money and consequently, gives more preference to her elder daughter-in-law, Jamuna, who lives in US with her hubby, Chandru. As a token of financial help, both send Dollars to India and that’s why Jamuna is an apple of Gauramma’s eye. The mother-in-law makes constant comparison between the two ‘bahus’ and this takes toll on Vinuta’s physical and mental health. But time is dear to none and is mightiest of all. The cruel realities of life flash before Girish’s mother one by one whose morale had quake in front of Dollar. It dawned upon her that everything that glitters is not gold.  The story, laid down in Karnataka, specifically doesn’t only paint the scenario in Karnataka, rather it can be implemented to all parts of India. It also eyes the NRIs who leave their homelands to scratch a few Dollars in their hands. They actually transform into “Never Returning Indians”. This is a big problem the country is facing as the brains get drained into some other nation. In fact, this thing often keeps, the children who live on foreign lands, in a fix as which culture to adopt. They oscillate between Indian and western culture.  The story is effective and proves that-“Man alone has a choice between good and evil, and he reaps his rewards according to what he chooses.”

“Girl”

Jamaica Kincaid was a very powerful writer whose writings compel the readers to ponder gravely on the subject matter. Her works are slammed for its simplicity and anger. Kincaid’s strong piece, “Girl”, hinges on femininity in which the mother tries to nail into her daughter the values of responsibility as the latter is ascending in the first flush of youth.

“Girl” is so capsule that it ends in a blink but the impression it leaves on the readers’ minds is profound. The honest thoughts run in a single string which keeps the readers engripped throughout causing them anguish, frustration and frown on the sheer lopsidedness of the society.

The story blooms with the caustic and razor sharp advice of the mother to her daughter, who according to the former is hard bent upon becoming a ‘slut’. The way the mother conditions her child about things to do or not to do, make the write-up no less impactful.

No matter, the story was penned-down almost four decades back, but the matter can be fitted in the present scenario as well. The readers can relate themselves to the characters. The language used is simple, nothing ornate, yet the sense of isolation and detachment from emotions is tangible. Also, the words are stinging which leave the readers stifled.

In various households, girls are often castigated as how to live. Their very way of living is defined by the parents, especially the mother. No doubt, the prejudices are hidden in the roots of the society. The anonymous mother in “Girl” too speaks in a similar tone, thus dictating so-called sense of decorum to her teenage girl.

“…you must not speak to wharf-rat boys…this is how to make a good medicine to throw away a child before it becomes a child…” These lines depict how insecure the mother is about her child. Through her long unending breath, she is trying hard to reinforce her past experiences on her daughter. She expects her to have the strength of her mother…ironically the strength that came from experiences, not instructions!

In W.B. Yeats poetry, “A Prayer for My Daughter,” the poet thinks her daughter to be a plain slate on which he can scribble anything he wishes irrespective of the girl’s choices and desires. Throughout the poem, any number of things has been rubbed against the ‘bud’ that has just entered the world. And this is why, the poem is deemed offensive. Hence, it may be chalked-out that ‘Girl’ and ‘A…Daughter’, both raise a question on gender equality. For one thing or the other, the catapults are aimed at the ‘fair-sex’ only. In both pieces, it is the ‘girl’ who is subjected to so many conditioning. Why could it not be a boy? Why is it always the girl who has to suffer? Why are the morals of a girl challenged most of the time?

Think.

Think wisely.

Think sincerely.

Think impartially…to change the picture!