Christmas Tale I: Child on platform

This is a small incident but it touched my heart. I have been quite vocal against the child labour and to my credit have done nothing except blabbering. I find this to be the best way to escape as a responsible citizen patronizing social causes. Being a part of a social structure which deteriorated over the past decade and is somehow on the path of revival (If you are wondering what I am referring to: It is my native state Bihar), I have realized that the best intelligentsia can do is to organize a debate or a workshop on the decline of the social fabric in a muted attempt to arouse the lost spirit of a failed society. Well the previous sentence has nothing to do with the article and as I read it now even I find it very difficult to comprehend. Yet I will let it to be the part of the article for the sheer effort that had gone into writing this. I will put down two points before I proceed to narrate the incident.

1. Though I have never done anything constructive in this regard I am opposed to child labour.

2. I despise people selling unhygienic water bottles packaged as mineral water particularly at railway stations and sometimes in the train as well. On my part either I crush the bottle I had used or I take it home. I have even asked my fellow passengers to do the same but off late have not done so because of the common response that I used to get: “Let the children take it. At least they will get some money for it.”

On this background let me start with the narration. The incident is a bit old. Probably of the month of February 2008 and I had to shelve the plan of writing about it again and again due to the obvious lack of time.

The train was late. However the fog had cleared and I was expecting to reach my home in next hour or two. The morning had not been a good one as I was nudged more than once to create place for people to sit on my ‘side lower’ berth. I handled the situations pretty well though and at the moment no one was sitting on my berth. For all those people who crib about this trend of forceful occupancy in trains passing through Bihar, here is a fact: This is done more because of the lack of fast local trains in the state than the miscreant tendency of the populace though I do not deny the role of the feudal society in certain parts of the state.

‘How long the train will stop here?’ asked a fellow passenger. The train was held at the Bakhtiyarpur Junction (No points for guessing…. It is in Bihar) for more than 20 minutes. It’s regular of Indian Railways to delay a train which is already late. I had no answer to his question so I just shrugged and smiled. The winter was at its peak but the sun had just evaded the fog cover to reach to us through its rays. So I opened the window to enjoy the warmth provided by the sunlight. The station was akin to any other station in India brimming with chaotic life despite of it being an early Sunday in a cold weather. Suddenly a boy caught my eye. He was running with a packaged bottle of water, the same unhygienic quality which I despise. He came to me and pleaded to buy the water. I declined and after a few attempts he moved ahead. I watched him. It took him two more failed efforts before he was able to sell the bottle. Suddenly there was a zing in his strides. There was the same glow on his face which any MBA graduate will have if he makes a successful sale. He ran towards a ‘Poori-Sabji’ vendor. ‘So the guy is having a grand treat’, I thought. It was a mixed feeling. I was angry at him for selling an unhygienic bottle of water and at the same time I was happy to see a deprived child enjoying a ‘feast’ by his standards by the money earned on his own. However, the child did not eat the food. He took it to a small girl sitting at the end of the platform and gave the entire thing to her. She was probably his sister. As she ate he was smiling. I could see content on his face: A feeling which deprives most of us. The train did not wait there for long thereafter. Finally Railway officials realized that it was their duty to take us to our destination. I left the train at Patna but carried that expression of content in my heart.

I discussed this incident with my parents. Since they have seen more of world than me I mostly listen to an interesting discussion that took place.

“There are many deprived people who live like this. Just because they are financially weaker does not mean that they cease to be human.” My father remarked during the discussion.

“And then they talk about the dropout rates from the school. Universal education is still a dream because these children do not have any option but to engage in work. This may not be exactly child labour but the ramifications are same.” I could not agree more with my mother.

Social scientists have pointed out many reasons for the high dropout rates from the school and the quality of education in public schools is cited to be the prominent reason. They almost always try to belittle the impact of poverty and related issues like child labour on the dropout rates from the school. Whereas I agree with them on the first issue I also believe the economic status also plays an important role in determining the education level of a child.

However I don’t want to delve into the education system of our country. This incident shows the spirit of Christmas: To share joy and happiness. It reflects that despite of all difficulties we can still move on because of the love and kindness in our heart. And hence I thought this festive season is the most appropriate time to bring out this post.

P.S: I wrote a story on street children way back in class VIth. When I showed it to my grandpa he was happy to read it but at the same time explained to me that whatever I had written was not child labour.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all Merry Christmas.