Children not so lucky

Every alternate day we are served the story of brutality against children employed in various jobs despite child labour being banned in our country.

These tiny ones are sent out by their famillies because they don’t have much choice, but the famillies which take them in as workers or servants have a choice, even though they are doing illegal thing, but that sin can be rinsed by treating them with kindness and affection. And if possible educate them a little.

I have never been able to gauge these people, because I have been brought up in a family where we did not had any child servants, but the adults were always treated with respect.

I have only once appointed a child maid, then it was not illegal. That girl was always treated with gentleness, she was spared from heavy work even after repeated insistence from her mother. She did not walked out of Hindi movies, she was just like any child, greedy of glittery things, she used to drain cold drinks from refrigerator and replace it with water, gobble up any thing which lured her child tongue. Used to nag my mother to watch Govinda’s movies. My mother used to stick to discovery channel, and they both used to complain to us after our return from office. She used to fill up her squirrel box (of course without our knowledge) with my artificial jewelleries and music cassettes. She has been caught at the act too many times but did not changed her ways.

When dinner was served she used to get the first plate. When my mother used to hand out delicacies, she was the one who used to get maximum in number, because rest of us have lost interest in those goodies with age. That girl was nothing exceptional she also used to lie, steal and do mischief, but was always treated with this thing in mind that she had to leave her parents at an age when our children see darkness if their parents go somewhere for an evening. She became so attached to us that in the later stages she used to weep when her mother used to come to take her, and cried a lot to accompany us when we shifted to Calcutta.

Even though child labour has been banned, appointing a child as servant is illegal, still people who do it, they can atleast treat these children properly. Give them a little affection and gentleness, so that the things which their poverty has deprived them from, we being fellow human beings, give back to them a little. As human being, we can atleast show this much conscience, treat these helpless, shelterless small things with some love and tenderness.

Whenever I read these news, which I am really ashamed to say too often, my heart fills up with anguish, the stories of battering of children in the hands of their employers. Are these people human being or some thing else? Mostly these are family people, educated people, who have their own children, grand children they dote upon. Then how can they treat another child, who is so unfortunate that he/ she has to leave his parents at such tender age and move out to face the world on their own so cruelly?

People say that a woman is a natural mother, these mothers pamper their own children to no end, whereas a child, who is usually of the same age is beaten up for small mischief or faults. These persons usually get away with their inhumanity because we Indians are a strange community. We join rallies against child labours then appoint children as servants back at home, because they eat less, cost less and bear most tortures mutely.