Finally day before yesterday I went and met those kids who are put up in Dongri remand home. I did not quite know what to expect. I took a few sweets for them; but had no clue about what their reaction would be like.
"Hey, it's the same guy", said Amar when he saw me. The three boys were dressed in the remand home uniform –sky-blue shirts and navy-blue shorts. Amar, who is twelve years old, Salim and Suraj, both of whom are eleven years old, were smiling. When I got up and went to them, Suraj could not hold back his tears and when I wiped one, he hugged me!
The boys are doing well and are currently under observation and the authorities are still trying to trace their parents.
It took me ten days to get permission to see them. Ten days in a remand home before even someone, who was responsible for them being there, comes to visit you. You do not quite know what is in store for you next. And you're only eleven or twelve. A bit like flowers plucked and stuffed in a gunny-bag. Wouldn't be surprised if they are smeared when seen next.
When I was eleven, I had a bicycle. A black Avon BMX. And I went outstation during my vacations.
I am not trying to garner sympathy for the kids here; maybe, we owe them more.
Like my uncle says: Mera Bharat Mahan Nahi Hain; Lekin Yeh Dosh Mera Hain (My India isn't great; but it is my fault).
Friday, April 21, 2006
Monday, April 10, 2006
A Lesser God
Yesterday, while waiting for the Churchgate fast local to arrive at Dadar station, I noticed a man pouring white-ink (generally used for correcting/covering written mistakes) into handkerchiefs of about four boys no older than 10 years of age, in exchange of money.
This correction fluid contains Toluene, which contains benzodiazepines and other substances that are listed as psychotropic substances in the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substance Act, 1985.
The peddler and the boys hopped in the handicapped compartment. Once in the train I called the police from my cellular phone and told the man who answered about the incident and asked him if anything could be done at the next station, which was yet about four minutes away. He said he’d see if anything could be done. I knew what that meant: nothing.
It was really young kids there, kids who are supposed to receive free and compulsory education from the Government from the age of six through fourteen years. And they were picking rags and buying psychotropic substances. So, many people saw what was happening and conveniently chose to look away as if it was none of their concern. So, I got off my first class compartment and caught hold of the peddler by his collar and three kids (one managed to run away) and called the police, which took its sweet time to arrive (well, at least they did). Meanwhile a crowd had gathered around us and it became easier to hold on to them.
Well, the peddler was arrested, and the kids were sent for a medical check-up.
Right to Education is a fundamental right every individual from six through fourteen years of age have. And this right is not what one would generally associate with –it cannot be renounced; it is an obligation. Actually, let me just quote Article 21A of the Constitution of India.
“The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of six to fourteen years in such manner as the state may by law determine”
So, if we look at it logically, the education that the Nation thus guarantees (forget the implementation), is until a child attains the age of fourteen (which is also the age beyond which a person can be legally employed), must enable the child with skills and ability to sustain himself and his family with a respectable standard of living. If we look at the education provided to children between six and fourteen, we realize, is nothing except building a foundation for higher studies, which is not guaranteed!
If you’re Indian, you definitely know that children are produced so that they can help feed the family, two extra palms to earn by putting them forward, before air-conditioned car windows and crowded trains. Why is it that their producers would send them to schools?
This, unfortunately, is not the end of the irony. Add to all of the above, reservations and quotas to “Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) and Other Backward Classes (OBC)”.
Who exactly comes under the umbrella of “backward classes”? The lower castes of an era immemorial. So, a rich student who falls, by virtue of birth, in one the above-mentioned categories, belongs to a backward class, whereas a Brahmin living in a shanty in Dharavi, without two square meals to eat is not!
The two hypotheses of enabling children of a lesser God to lead a respectable life by providing free and compulsory education on one hand and providing for quotas on a basis illogical on the other, seem to be outrageously at disparity, to say the least.
Well, the peddler was arrested, and the kids were sent for a medical check-up. Will they be sent to school? Even if they are, will it help? There are tens of thousands such children in Mumbai itself.
Actually, there is every probability that these kids are sent to an inhumanly overcrowded remand home where they might just be subjected to further abuse. Or maybe a social service organization might take up their welfare.
I shall pray. However, we can do more.
This correction fluid contains Toluene, which contains benzodiazepines and other substances that are listed as psychotropic substances in the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substance Act, 1985.
The peddler and the boys hopped in the handicapped compartment. Once in the train I called the police from my cellular phone and told the man who answered about the incident and asked him if anything could be done at the next station, which was yet about four minutes away. He said he’d see if anything could be done. I knew what that meant: nothing.
It was really young kids there, kids who are supposed to receive free and compulsory education from the Government from the age of six through fourteen years. And they were picking rags and buying psychotropic substances. So, many people saw what was happening and conveniently chose to look away as if it was none of their concern. So, I got off my first class compartment and caught hold of the peddler by his collar and three kids (one managed to run away) and called the police, which took its sweet time to arrive (well, at least they did). Meanwhile a crowd had gathered around us and it became easier to hold on to them.
Well, the peddler was arrested, and the kids were sent for a medical check-up.
Right to Education is a fundamental right every individual from six through fourteen years of age have. And this right is not what one would generally associate with –it cannot be renounced; it is an obligation. Actually, let me just quote Article 21A of the Constitution of India.
“The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of six to fourteen years in such manner as the state may by law determine”
So, if we look at it logically, the education that the Nation thus guarantees (forget the implementation), is until a child attains the age of fourteen (which is also the age beyond which a person can be legally employed), must enable the child with skills and ability to sustain himself and his family with a respectable standard of living. If we look at the education provided to children between six and fourteen, we realize, is nothing except building a foundation for higher studies, which is not guaranteed!
If you’re Indian, you definitely know that children are produced so that they can help feed the family, two extra palms to earn by putting them forward, before air-conditioned car windows and crowded trains. Why is it that their producers would send them to schools?
This, unfortunately, is not the end of the irony. Add to all of the above, reservations and quotas to “Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) and Other Backward Classes (OBC)”.
Who exactly comes under the umbrella of “backward classes”? The lower castes of an era immemorial. So, a rich student who falls, by virtue of birth, in one the above-mentioned categories, belongs to a backward class, whereas a Brahmin living in a shanty in Dharavi, without two square meals to eat is not!
The two hypotheses of enabling children of a lesser God to lead a respectable life by providing free and compulsory education on one hand and providing for quotas on a basis illogical on the other, seem to be outrageously at disparity, to say the least.
Well, the peddler was arrested, and the kids were sent for a medical check-up. Will they be sent to school? Even if they are, will it help? There are tens of thousands such children in Mumbai itself.
Actually, there is every probability that these kids are sent to an inhumanly overcrowded remand home where they might just be subjected to further abuse. Or maybe a social service organization might take up their welfare.
I shall pray. However, we can do more.
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