This is the thought so many days running in my mind..As soon as I came Mumbai,I was keep on complaining almost everyday about the common areas are not clean here..Even I am not at all interested to go out too.One day I dropped my son in school and that too in monsoon time..All of sudden the rain started heavily,so I just stopped near one small shop...It's very close to parking lot.
On the left side of the parking lot there are couple of shops one of them is a small restaurant. In Mumbai they are so many small eatouts..its a self serving eat out, pure vegetarian dishes only and at a cheap rate than most of the other places. You can find one of these on almost every corner of the town. The shop was crowded, most of them enjoying a cup of tea while waiting for the rain to end. In front of this place just on the outside near a pillar sat two kids. One very young and the elder one was carrying him on his lap. They were not just sitting there; they were sleeping in that position. The younger one had bowed himself in such a way to place his face under the elder kids heavy-eyed drooping head, I guess to evade the occasional raindrops carried by the wind from disturbing the nap. The elder one, even in his sleep, had his hands carefully held around the younger one’s little body. Both were dozing off quite nicely in such a place in this weather and in this manner. It was quite a scene for me, disturbing enough to bring on long thoughts all through the late evening and while going to bed.
Who could they be? Not a very intelligent question especially in Mumbai, where there are plenty of such kids on the street. They are there on almost on all the traffic signals, begging or working in small restaurants like the one I described above. Most of the migrant laborers who have come to Mumbai for construction jobs have their kids with them. Few of them are working with them in the same places were their parents work doing some odd jobs like carrying load etc. Others look after their siblings while their parents are at work. No school life no education. Their life is not having much colors and the childhood is lost just after they have stopped drinking their mother’s milk.
Nowadays, I see a lot of kids around, almost everyone out there seem to have a newborn baby, a toddler or a kid. Earlier, I don't remember noticing so many kids around. I don't know if this is because we have a baby at home, that we unconsciously happen to notice other kids around. That could be true also; we see what we want to see. But the kids you see around are so very different. You can see many of the luckier ones like our kid in malls, shopping places and all those new and neat places to hang around in Mumbai.. They are all dressed in their designer labeled frocks and skirts or shirts and shorts which their mammas carefully pick from those special Kids shops .. They all seem to know and recognize a cell phone, computer and all the gadgets their parents play with. But there are others who don't seem to be having any luck from the time they are born. They don't seem to find their mammas when it’s lunchtime or dinnertime or whenever they are hungry. They don't seem to be inside their homes when it’s raining outside. They have not heard or seen any infant food or toddler’s health drinks. They eat whatever they get to eat from their sibling’s plate. They are out there on the streets most of the time in search of their childhood.
What should I do when I find these kids on the streets begging? Should I give them money? Many say I should not, as I will be encouraging them to beg again. Should I give them food? I don't carry food always with me to give them. May be I should take some while going out on weekends from now on.I did this in Bangalore.
I am going to ask these questions to many people from now on, at the same time I need to look for some one who can help us to help them. I am not sure if all those NGO's who come for donations are really worthy. I think India government is going to strictly ban child labor. I don't know what is going to happen to those thousands of kids who work and earn their living. Will they not be out there on streets to beg? I know the working conditions of these kids are not good or they are tortured most of the times. But is it not possible to account them while they are in some address than while they are on the streets. I don't know. May be as every other law made in this country, this will also be forgotten conveniently after the initial commotion. Still many childhoods are getting lost daily in it city right in front of our eyes.
PS : I really take some serious steps before my life ends...That is 100 percentage true..But when and where?.how?.God has to give enough strength to me to start shelter for this homeless....
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