Horizons - Filled with Hope

• Bitter Chocolate - Child Abuse in India
• A "Civil Society" that Victimises the Victims
• Poland to Castrate Paedophiles

“St. Valentine gave us a message: Spread love by doing what you can to relieve people around you of their pain. And that is why we are planning to celebrate Valentine's day at Kidwai Memorial Cancer Hospital”. That's what the President of YuvaBenguluru, Kiran G told me last month when I had met him at DeenaSeva Sangha school, where I teach as part of TeachIndia; and which has been adopted by YuvaBengaluru.

Now, when he put it that way, there was no way I'd miss this opportunity to interact with ,and spread love and hope to, patients. And that's exactly what I did this Valentine's day.

Kids from the DeenaSeva Sangha school put up a cultural song and dance show for the patients. You won't believe how talented these kids are. Then, there was a gift distribution event – Kannada film star Ramya did the honours. It's always good to see stars supporting such causes (although it inevitably attracts the media and the “unruly” media behaviour). Along with fruit and soft toys, child patients were also presented with Valentine's Day greeting cards crafted by the kids of DeenaSeva Sangha school; and also a lamp with paintings by the kids again.

I saw several kids at the institute with shaved heads. I assume they have some form and some degree of cancer. Some were as young as 3 years I guess. But, no amount of cancer could take away their childhood spirit from them. They were playing, bursting balloons, giggling, sulking – you name it. Makes me wonder – is their innocence their best ally in fighting the disease? How many adults take their sufferings as well “in their stride” as kids do?

Anyway, participating in today's event made me “feel good” - but it is just a start. What remains to be seen is to what extent I continue to make some noticeable difference in society this year (as I have committed to at the beginning of the year). Looking forward to a year with meaningful contributions.

I came across this talk by Sunitha Krishnan at TEDIndia through this post at IndiaUncut. Sunitha, who was gang-raped at the age of 15, now works towards rescuing victims of sex slavery; and she has rescued more than Three Thousand girls and women till date, often at great risk to self and colleagues in the form of violence from traffickers. This talk is about her fight against this lowest form of human abuse. I'm embedding the video here.

WARNING: This video has a few graphic slides and is Not Safe For Work. Moreover, it is pretty hard-hitting.

The take-away for me from the speech was the point that Sunitha put forth so forcefully towards the end of her talk – and that is this: The biggest hurdle to rescue and rehabilitation of people who have been sexually exploited; is the so-called “Civil Society”. A society which, keeping with it's notorious trend of hypocrisy, refuses to accept a victim of sexual abuse. A society that completely cuts itself off from a victim of sex slavery. A society that only further victimises the victim.

Is it so hard to realise that the girl was raped, trafficked or enslaved for no fault of hers? Is it so difficult to digest the fact that she has as much a right to lead a normal life post the incident as any of us? Is showing some compassion for such victims really such an unthinkable proposition?

I've written a couple of posts previously on this topic, but I have only been harping on the “raising awareness” part, but not been doing anything. Here is my chance to really do something about this. I have decided to implement what Sunitha appealed to us to do in the video – talk to people about this; get them to change their mind-set, get them to accept rescued women in mainstream life – in jobs, as household help.

Supporting Sunitha in this fight does not necessarily mean going out and rescuing girls. What she needs from us is a far more challenging task and that is to change the way our “civil society” treats the victims. Let us resolve to start sowing the seeds of change in this regard.

Looking forward to a society where the victims; not the criminals; feel safe and welcome!

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Edited to add:

My previous posts on this topic:

• Minor Victims in Open Courts
• Poland to Castrate Paedophiles
• Book Review: "Bitter Chocolate - Child Sexual Abuse in India" by Pinki Virani
• Innocence Snatched

Dealing in drugs, liquor, adulterated food, pirated media, porn, flesh is all passe. What's the latest? Dealing in babies. How any human might want to sell her own baby is beyond me.

• Perhaps it is the poverty?

• Is it because of too many children? (this opens the topic of awareness about family planning – but that's taking this post off-track)

• Is it because of the demand for baby BOYS? (so people who have a girl child sells her – which they perceive to be more humane than killing the foetus or the new-born infant; and people who don't have a baby boy are ready to pay for one)

• Where do childless couples come into the picture?

Whatever the reason, baby trafficking is a HUGE blot on an already blotted society. The fact that it is a booming business speaks volumes about our character and our humanity. What can WE do about this?

Looking forward to a society which treats its children better than mere commodities!

Finally, the judiciary has taken note of the harassment that child victims go through when they are produced in open courts for trials. Taking exception to the cases where the minor victims of rape are produced in courts, the Delhi HC has ruled that

“The child victim (of rape) shall not be separated from her parents/guardians on the ground of ascertaining the voluntary nature of statement. No court shall detain a child in an institution meant for the adults”

The good news is that judiciary is becoming sensitized towards the trauma that a child has to go through in courts; often having to describe the complete incident to total strangers, fielding uncomfortable questions (“where did he touch you?”, “Did you resist?”). The least we can do is spare the little soul who has been abused from this additional form of abuse!

The bad news is that, although there already are “guidelines” put in place regarding rape trials where a minor is involved; it appears that courts are simply ignoring these guidelines left, right and center. What is needed is to turn these guidelines into stringent laws – that's the first step. Making the trial process child-friendly is the next. (More about this in Pinki Virani's Book “Bitter Chocolate: Child Sexual Abuse in India” - my review here)

If only, laws and guidelines as they are on paper were to be implemented! Looking forward to an India where the law treats the children as children and not as commodities!

According to this news item in today's ToI, Poland has approved a law that mandates castration of child sex offenders in some cases. The news item also adds in the same breath that this move has sparked criticism from human rights groups.

Two points I want to raise here:

One – Heinous crimes call for heinous punishment! Why can't other countries around the world take such concrete and seriously tough steps to curb the menace of child sex abuse?

Two – The part about criticism from human rights groups had me thinking: Can an adult who mercilessly sexually abuses a child really qualify as “human”? Why can't human rights groups look from the child's point of view for once?

Looking forward to a humane world which treats its children as human too!

My pal, Mr. Professional (MP) is very upbeat about his child these days. Every conversation has to have at least a few mentions of his 10 year old daughter. Like thousands others like him, MP is a very proud parent, and wants the best for his child. He always goes the extra mile to give his daughter the best he possibly can. The best of clothes, toys, education – everything. In fact, MP revealed to me once that the amount of resources consumed by the child has been the single largest expenditure for the family ever since his daughter was born.

And now, I arrive at the real point of this post. When I met up with MP recently, he was with his Childhood Friend (lets call him CF). CF has an 8 year old son. CF has radically different views about bringing up a child. He put an entire new angle to this child-care thing.

CF insists that although he yearns to give his child the best, he does not equate “the best” with “the best that money can buy”. For example, he has chosen not to enrol his son in one of the “exclusive” schools (even though he could have afforded one had he stretched his finances a little). Instead, he has sent his son to a good middle-class school. He wants his son to interact with children from all backgrounds. And being a middle class guy himself, he believes that his son should go to a middle class school too. “There is no dearth of excellent-quality middle class schools is there?”, he argues. I think I agree with CF here.

Secondly, CF believes that a child brought up in such a protected environment will find it difficult to face the challenges of the world out there. A child who always travels in an A/C car, who has never boarded a city bus, who only rides an upmarket bike to college is out of touch with reality, he says. I am not sure whether I agree entirely with this opinion. I feel that no matter how protected a child is, as he grows, he will get acquainted with the ways of the world and will learn to stand up for himself.

CF's third point was about the child's sense of social responsibility. He feels that the trend of projecting only the best of the world to children makes them unaware of the sufferings of, and reality about their fellow human beings. His contention is that such children are less likely to do anything for the society. I guess he has a point there.

CF's final, radical punch was yet to come. He put forth a question to MP: “Imagine you had not had a child; and that you had spent all the amount that you are now spending on her, in philanthropy instead. Can you imagine how many under-privileged children's lives you could have turned around in that amount? And, can you imagine how many children's lives those kids might in tun improve when they grow up?”

I find this argument to be .. well .. far too extreme. Suggesting one not to have kids because one will end up spending a lot of money on the kids – instead, spending the same amount of money on dozens of underprivileged children!!! I mean .. if CF had suggested that – for example – imagine cutting down on the amount you spend on your kid by, say 20%; and imagine putting that money into social causes; well that would have been a far more reasonable and acceptable argument. Or would it? I wonder how CF would respond if I challenged him to undergo a 20% cut in his pay with the assurance that this amount would be used for philanthropy!

There is one thing I agree in this far-fetched point of view though. It has been my observation (and by no means is it a generalisation), that people who have come from not-so-rosy backgrounds are more active when it comes to charity – than people who have never had to struggle in their past. They would even undergo some sacrifices in order to give to the underprivileged. And by the end of the debate between MP and CF, the only take-away I had was that it might be a good thing to expose a child to the real world from an early age in order to make the child a good citizen in the future.

But hey, why am I worried about all these things? I ain't having kids anytime soon! I would like to know the opinion though, of those of you who have kids or are planning to soon. At least that way, when I bump into CF next time, I am more prepared to enter into the debate rather than remain a mute spectator!

This post takes over from where this one had left off. I just had to present two more instances which troubled me a lot.

Instance 1

A fine morning a few months back. The place is a traffic signal on Cubbon Road in Bangalore. As usual, most motorists have switched off their engines since it is a long wait. Thats when the two children seize their opportunity. The older girl must be about 12 years old, the younger boy being around 10.

Off they jump, from the median, onto the road. And, start show casing their acrobatic skills! Jumping, bouncing, body-bending, flipping over several times – these two kids definitely belong to a good circus – not a traffic signal. They have the attention of everyone waiting at the signal. After performing some some really good stunts, they go around the vehicles, collecting money from whoever is ready to “pay up”.

Questions

• One: Can this be classified as “begging”? Especially since the children were as good an entertainment troupe as any? Another way of asking the same question is – could the children be considered to be “earning” whatever they get at that signal?

• Two: If the answer to question One is that this is not begging – the children are actually working for what they earn; then – where does that leave me – the “audience”? These children were regulars at that signal for about 2-3 weeks. So, How much and often do I pay them? Where is this heading and what does the future hold?

Instance 2

Today. I am driving home and at 10 pm, I stop and switch off the car at another traffic junction on Cubbon Road. This time, I see two women doing the rounds begging. One has an infant in her arms – the sight of which was sufficient to make me forget my principles in this regard (I am against begging – it does not serve any purpose – blah blah).

But the sight of the other woman saddened me even further. She was pregnant and her bare tummy protruded from the ill-fitting dress she was wearing. Further, I could clearly see from her expression and stance that she had absolutely no energy and she looked like she would collapse any moment. God knows how long it had been since she had eaten! I beckoned to her and handed her a 10-rupee note.

Question:

Well, I am too confused about this incident to even pose a proper question! I know that giving alms to this lady was out of pity and it was well-justified – but it did not serve a meaningful purpose. I had thought short-term.

But maybe the question is (again) – where is this heading? One pregnant woman got something to eat today – but what about the million others out there in the slums and on the streets and footpath of India? What is their fate?

To conclude – I should blame myself for I only give these things a thought when they occur – maybe a day or two more. Then, its all locked up in some obscure corner of my brain until the next such moving incident occurs! I think I need to be more compassionate – especially when the miseries of fellow human beings right in front of my eyes are concerned.

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I recommend these excellent posts on this topic for further reading:

Brothers in Alms – by Chandra

Cray Biscuit Lady – at YOnEarthNot

Update: This article has been cross-posted at DesiCritics

Update 2: This article has been published at YouthKiAwaaz.

Update 3: This post has been recognized as the Best Book Review Post at Avantgarde Bloggies Award 2009.

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“Bitter Chocolate” is a book which is sure to shock the reader at every each and every page flip. The book deals with Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) in India. Through this book, the author Pinki Virani shatters every myth regarding CSA, and jolts the reader out of complacency regarding the issue. She explains the effects of such abuse on the child, and proceeds to offer suggestions – for prevention, as well as to deal with abuse. This book considers as CSA, cases where the abuser is more than sixteen years of age, and the abused is less than sixteen.

"Bitter Chocolate" is split up into three “notebooks”.

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Notebook 1 starts off with an account of the author's own childhood experience. It then touches upon scores of instances of CSA from all across the country, cutting across social strata (both of the victim and the perpetrator) and age of the victim. There are some instances where the abused is too young to even know she has been abused! Some of the accounts were disgusting enough to make me question the very notion of “humanity”. Sample this:

• A lot of cases of CSA occur within the house of the child, at the hands of a person known to the child.

• Boys are the target of the abusers too – and we are not talking of a one-off case here. Far more little boys are sodomized than one can imagine.

• There have been cases of women being perpetrators (although this forms a small percentage)

• Only a negligible minority of the perpetrators are actually “suffering” and need “treatment” (referring to paedophilia – which is an excuse often used by child abusers to get away).

• Yes, the driver, liftman, security guard at school might be looked at suspiciously, and the child might be warned to be cautious of such people. But what if the abuser is a person who, ostensibly, is supposed to protect the child? What if the child is violated by uncles, teachers, grandfathers, older cousins, family friends, even brothers and most shocking of all – fathers? This is not all that rare – as Pinki details out in the book. People who are gentle, caring and smiling by day – turn predators when they find themselves alone with the child.

• The sickest of all factors mentioned in the previous point is that the child is often abused by the very person who the child is totally dependent on! Thats the irony.

• In many cases, the abuse does come to the notice of the family members of the child – but they often do nothing about it. Reason? Our twisted notion of the “Khaandaani Izzat” measured solely by the “purity” of its girl child. The boy victim is luckier in this respect, as the family's izzat does not rest on his shoulders, and it is more probable that something will be done about it when his case comes to light.

• In a vast majority of the cases, the victim feels guilty that (s)he was responsible for what happened. And family/society does nothing to dispel this guilt. How blood-boilingly-repulsive is that?

• Child prostitution and child pornography are more widespread that one might be led to believe.

This list is just an indication of what to expect from the book. It is difficult to control oneself while reading some of the examples – I often found myself closing the book in disgust or choking or wiping a tear from my eye.

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Notebook 2 undertakes a long-term study of a couple of real-life stories, thereby examining the effects of CSA on a victim. It explains the short-term and long-term effects of CSA, and how it has the potential to destroy a person's life – forever. Some of the effects mentioned include:

• Physical scars and emotional insecurity (these short-term effects are pretty obvious)

• Confused sexuality, promiscuous behaviour on part of the victim (this is a long-term effect where the victim might experiment with homosexuality/multiple partners in an attempt to “erase” the memory of the abuse).

• Problems in family life, including emotional and sexual problems

• Most destructive of all, the abused may turn predator in the long run, and when the child grows up, (s)he may end up abusing a child in turn.

The book goes on to cite the opinions of several counsellors, doctors, child psychologists on this matter. The bottom line is: CSA devastates a child and this devastation can manifest itself much later in the life of the victim.

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Notebook 3 comes round to providing approaches to prevention of CSA. But not before it touches upon the reasons the abusers have a free run in India:

• For one, the laws pertaining to CSA in India are grossly inadequate. Only rape (as in, penetration) carries any significant punishment.

• Secondly, the abusers are probably aware that there are very small chances of the truth coming out into the open. Even if it does, our notion of family pride ensures that everything will be hushed-up and the abuser is free to go find his(/her) next target.

• The book provides examples where a judge simply refused to believe that a grandfather was abusing his granddaughter. This shows how skewed the upholders of the law are with respect to the issue of CSA.

• Finally, the abuser is aware that even if a case gets to court, it is an extremely uphill task for the family of the child to prove anything. The child will have to be produced in court and will be cross-examined. It is definitely easy to confuse a child during cross-examination.

Pinki Virani goes on to provide several practical approaches to tackle the menace. These revolve around the idea that if the perpetrators of CSA are brought to book, then it could help partly in discouraging such despicable acts in the future. The approaches include

• Tougher, and clearer laws dealing with CSA – starting with the proper definition, to increasing the punishment.

• Child-friendly process to deal with the matter (for example, the child not having to be repeatedly cross-examined and explain the harrowing experience several times, in graphic detail, to complete strangers).

• Child Protection Units (to counsel the victim of abuse) and Child Protection Courts (to handle all cases where the victim is a child).

• But above all, Pinki pins the hope on responsible parenting. This includes

  • providing an open atmosphere at home so that the child is not hesitant to speak out is (s)he is abused,

  • being aware of what the child is up to, where (s)he is and such, and

  • most importantly, dealing with disclosure appropriately (without blaming the child for what happened).

I have just summarized some of the points – the author goes into the nitty-gritties of each of these factors.

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• Yes – "Bitter Chocolate" is hard-hitting.

• Yes – At times, you'd rather just quit reading the book.

• Yes – the book will definitely give you several sleepless nights.

• Yes – at times, the extremely graphic descriptions might be just too much to take.

In spite of all this, I still recommend one and all to read this book. For the simple reason, that unless one reads this book, one will not really grasp the magnitude of the menace. It is human nature that unless something shocks us beyond imagination, we treat it as just one of those things. If I had just read a statement that CSA does take place – I might not have reacted as strongly as I am now doing after reading the book.

"Bitter Chocolate" is a must read.

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My Personal Views on the topic:

It is my belief that an adult who sexually abuses a child does not even qualify as a human. CSA is the lowest to which humanity can stoop. Of course it has to stop. But the issue is definitely a complex one. For example, in the case where a person who is supposed to provide for the child (shelter, food) himself resorts to sexually abusing the child, there is no easy solution.

I agree with most of the approaches outlined in The Bitter Chocolate – both for prevention of CSA and to deal with it. However, something does not seem right.

• Making sure the child is aware is a good thing – but then, at what age does one begin educating the child about CSA? The book highlights a case where a girl was abused even before she uttered her first word!

• Educating school-going children to be wary of strangers is a good thing – but what good would children be if they are not .. well .. children? I'm not sure if it's a good thing if a child is suspicious of everyone and everything.

• Early adolescence is an even more difficult time to explain about CSA. There is every possibility that the child loses the distinction between a good touch and a bad touch – thereby treating every touch as a bad one. So, we end up with a case where a child has never been sexually abused, but still tunes out of love and sex completely. Its almost like the child has been frightened into this emotional situation.

I completely agree with the author regarding the urgent need for the law to be reformed to be more child-friendly. Child Protection Units and Child Protection Courts are definitely bound to be effective.

To conclude, I think that it is the responsibility of every citizen to raise our voice against this most heinous of crimes, to work towards its prevention, and to push for reform. Remember, children are our future citizens. What kind of country would it be, where a staggering 40% of the girls and 25% of the boys have, at some point of time in the past, been sexually abused as children?

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Juts a footnote – CSA is by no means purely an Indian phenomenon – nor is it restricted only to poor and developing countries. It exists everywhere. USA is struggling to counter child pornography and some other countries like Cambodia are waging a battle against child prostitution (I have written about this at Innocence Snatched). The entire world is violating its children – and the responsible citizens of the world have to come together to eradicate CSA once and for all.

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Edited to Add:

Other books I have reviewed:

• Wise and Otherwise (by Sudha Murthy)

• Frontline Pakistan (by Zahid Hussain)

• Dude, Where's My Country (by Michael Moore)

• Games Indians Play (by V Raghunathan)

Update (19th March '09): This post is now published at YouthKiAwaaz.

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"It is not about how much you know. It is about how much it matters to those who do not know. And that, quite honestly, is infinite" [~Times Of India, Teach India campaign]

It is this statement which I saw some 6-7 months back in a full-page Ad of the ToI TeachIndia campaign, that spurred me to go and register for the program. A month after I registered, TeachIndia contacted me with a message that I had been placed with the NGO Youth4Seva. I was invited to attend a kind of induction program where all the volunteers who had joined from TeachIndia were given an overview of Youth4Seva and its activities.

The real excitement, and responsibility, came up when I went one Sunday morning to the Deena Seva Sangha in Seshadripuram, to actually start my teaching. I was asked to choose between Spoken English and Maths, the audience being a bunch of 10^th Standard children, from a hostel next door to the school where I would be taking the classes. I chose Spoken English.

So it started. I took classes for the 7 boys every Sunday morning from 8 to 9:30 or 10. In the very first class, I realized that I had underestimated the effort it takes to teach! Secondly, I now realized that Maths would have been a better choice – since there's a fixed syllabus which one can teach, and it is easy to measure the children's progress – unlike Spoken English.

But another thought which occurred to me was that I had the opportunity to make a real difference in the children's future. It is my belief that to be competent in today's world, it is a must for a person to have a fair knowledge of the English language – written and spoken. Nothing hi-fi .. only basic communication skills in English. So I now had the opportunity to give these 7 kids a greater chance at being competitive.

I was suggested to look for Prakruthi N Banwasi's books, but I could not find any in the book stores. I settled for another “Spoken English” book. My first day in the class was an experience in itself.

The class started off with introductions all around. The first thing I noticed was the students' enthusiasm to learn. They were all from the disadvantaged sections of society, but that was not at all evident from their smiling faces or their general behaviour. Knowing the local language definitely helped me in bonding with the kids. I soon went beyond the teaching hours and started playing with the kids after class hours.

But, the crux of the matter remained dissatisfactory. The children were very weak in the basics. Some of them had chosen English medium in their school, but even they were very weak as far as their English knowledge goes. I started trying out different things to get them to open up more and converse with each other in English during the class hours. I started getting the sports page of the newspaper to class, to encourage the kids to read about it out and try to interpret the meaning. I asked the students to narrate what they did during the previous week, what movies they watched, what part of the movie they particularly liked, and other such stuff.

Although they gradually became more forthcoming and started using English more often, the improvement was not sufficient. Their board exams were approaching fast, and I was trying to complete my course before that.

It dint work out that way. The pressure started piling up on the students, with special classes in their school. I too had to go out of town and missed a couple of classes. These frequent gaps in the classes hampered the continuity, and hence the progress.

Eventually, I stopped taking classes for the 10^th Standard students since their board exams are just round the corner now. I thought I'd switch over to teaching something to other children (the 9^th standard students were in need of English and Maths teachers). However, they too have their exams soon. It is too late for me to get started now. Which means currently, I am not doing any teaching at all.

So, should I be disheartened that my contribution to TeachIndia has not amounted to much?

I think not.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I state my belief that change should be at the grassroots level, which inevitably, is a slow process. I was not able to achieve what I set out to this year, but its not the end. I will go back next year and make sure I make a difference in the lives of the next batch of kids. Of course I will be left with a lingering guilt that I have failed the 7 children who are currently in 10^th Standard – but on second thoughts, its not really a failure.

At the end of the day, TeachIndia for me has been a very satisfying experience so far. Give back to society brings a satisfaction like nothing else. I need to learn from this year's experience and commit more time next year.

Another thing I need to do is inspire more people to contribute to any such cause which gives hope to the Indian Citizens of Tomorrow. A small, but strong commitment (in my case – 1.5 hours per week for 12 weeks) is all you need to make to change lives for the better, forever. It need not be teaching (since that might require you to know the local language) – it could be anything – monetary, spreading awareness of issues (like hygiene), street plays, spreading the word and encouraging peers to join this cause, photography, blogging, web page design – anything you can think of. I urge you, my reader, to involve in any such activity which you think you can contribute in.

Hope being the foundation of this blog, I end this post Hoping for a better future for the Future Citizens of India. JAI BHARAT.

Today has been a very satisfying day for me. I participated in an event called “Run For Hope”, organized by Lovedale Foundation. It was just a 5-km run intended to raise funds for constructing a school for the under-privileged children, the funds coming in the form of registration for the event.

The run itself was not anything special. It started around 9 am from Vittal Mallya road and terminated at the same place after about 35-40 mins. The event, attended by hundreds of Bangaloreans, was flagged off by Kannada film actor Ramesh Arvind. Good to know that the stars are involved in such noble causes. At first, I was kind of put off by the media presence at the venue; but later thought it’s a good way of spreading the word. After all, more the publicity such a foundation gets, the better.

I must say I had underestimated the effort it would take to run for 5 kms. I found myself constantly getting tired. I must have covered around 15-20% of the distance walking rather than running.

Throughout the run, I kept asking myself the same question again and again – Was participating in this run worth it? I mean, have I made a significant difference, or any difference at all?

My questions were answered when I completed the run and entered the playground from where we had started. About 20 kids from the foundation were there, clapping and cheering the runners to the finish. One boy of around 9-10 came up to me, offered me a Dairy Milk chocolate, and said “Thank You uncle”. And I must say I have never felt so proud before! This was a “thank you” coming from a kid who has been through a lot of turmoil at a very young age. The kids at the foundation are children of HIV+ parents, some abandoned, some previously exploited. At this tender age, they have faced fear, loneliness, uncertainty, exploitation – they have experienced it all. So a “thank you”, uttered by this boy on behalf of the entire bunch of kids, was nothing short of the greatest compliment ever given to me.

I am happy that I finally got a chance to do something that I have been advocating for a very long time. I just hope that this continues. After all, Hope was today’s central theme wasn’t it? Hope for the children; Hope for their future.

As I said at the beginning of this post – Today, the day I ran for hope, has been a very satisfying day for me.

This is a really encouraging example of children showing the way. This story is about Girish Koushik and Kishan Srikanth. Girish, a 10 year old boy from Mysore; is the Under-10 world chess champion. Until recently, he was considering quitting the sport. Reason – paucity of funds; and the (very unsurprising) apathy on the part of the Govt. You can read about it here

When Girish and his family had all but given up hope, they found help from unexpected quarters – from another child prodigy! An article titled “Children help little chess champ” appeared on Page 1 of the 23^rd May Bangalore edition of The Times Of India (I am saying this because I did not find any corresponding article online). The article says that Kishan (a 10 yr-old who holds the Guinness World Record for youngest film director), has chipped in to mobilize funds for Girish. Kishan has appealed to friends in school to contribute their “one month’s pocket money” for Girish’s cause. Kishan has also suggested TOI to set up a Genius Foundation Fund to help not only Girish, but also other talented children. The foundation’s main source of funding would be pocket money contributed by children.

Kishan has been able to collect about 15 thousand rupees – an amount that may not suffice Girish for even one month, if he has to get proper coaching and other facilities. However, some corporates have shown interest in sponsoring Girish in the future. But that’s not the point, is it? The point is, children showing the state government how things can be achieved, provided the goodwill exists. A 10 year old child has done what the Government has failed to do. Or rather, a 10 year old shown that focusing on things that really matter will lead to a win-win situation (someone pleas explain this to the government!). I’d also like to add here that the movie which Kishan directed is called “C/o Footpath” and is about under-privileged street children. Another example of children taking up the cause of society.

This is immense good news – it paints a very bright picture of the days to come. As I keep saying, children of today are the future of this country. And if the children of today consist of the Kishan’s and the Girish’s, then the future of our country is in good hands. Hats off to Kishan. Hope he inspires other people (kids and adults) to do something similar. And all the best to Girish for his future.

Looking forward to the days when the grown-up Kishan’s and Girish’s will be the face of India. Jai Bharat.

It was a cold morning in New Delhi. I was travelling in an auto. The rickshaw stopped at a traffic signal; and a very cheerful-looking child beggar approached me. Having recently read this article which talks about parents almost forcing street children to beg, my mind was in a dilemma - whether to give alms or not. As a matter of principle, I avoid giving alms to beggars who I think are capable of doing some "work". Only if I see very old people or a beggar with an infant in tow do I consider giving alms.

Anyways, I was still contemplating whether to give alms, and if so, how much to give. But what the boy said caught me completely unawares. He was not interested in money at all. "Bhayya, thoda paani de de re". The kid was begging me to give him water!!. It took me a moment to realize that he had seen the mineral water bottle in my hand. I was stunned. Throwing all logic right out the window, I wordlessly handed over the bottle to the child. Forceful begging or not, how could I refuse to give water? He was overjoyed at receiving the bottle. He did a little victory dance of sorts and proudly displayed his prize to other kids at the signal, before disappearing into the crowd.

The signal changed to green and I moved on. But the image remained in my mind for a few days afterward. A thousand thoughts raced through my mind. Had the kid been genuinely needy or thirsty? If so, the situation of the poor in our country is worse than I had imagined. I mean even beggars are entitled to atleast one proper meal a day and in any case sufficient water to drink! On the other hand, had the child asked for water simply because he had seen the bottle (had he become a real kid for just a brief moment)? In which case, had I done the right thing by giving the water after all?

It beats me as to why do children have to be forced to beg!! Probably because begging earns more money than doing petty jobs? For one, children in India are made to work for half the wages (compared to an adult); but a child beggar can probably "earn" much more than an adult (the sympathy factor). This also gets us to the topic of child labour; but I think this topic merits a separate post, so I'l reserve it for another day. Coming back to the current topic, what the parents dont see are that if the kid goes to school instead of wasting his childhood in begging, he'l probably get a proper "job" and in the long run. But alas! the illiterate parents live for the present; and are not future-thinking.

In any case, this whole though-process seems to have come to a nought since I still dont have an answer to my question - If I see a child begging, do I give alms or not? Am I helping a child (a future citizen of the country) by giving some small change? Or is it an irresponsible act which will only harm the future? Now-a-days I seem to be only coming up with questions rather than answers; I seem to be posing more problems and solving less of them!

I was thumbing through a back issue of Reader’s Digest. An article that eventually caught my attention shocked me like nothing before. The article was about the child flesh trade in Cambodia. The author of the article was a journalist in disguise. He masqueraded as a “customer” and must have been utterly shocked at what he witnessed.

There is supposed to be a “belief” in South-East Asia that sex with a virgin child is the “cure” for impotency and also that it “enhances” the potency. Apparently, the younger the child, the more the “healing power” or whatever and the more the money people are ready to pay for it. I was moved to tears on reading that children as young as 6 years old are offered in this trade. First of all, some village girls are lured to the cities with promise of good jobs. Then, they finally end up in this net after running out of options. Most of them don’t even return home because they know they will not be accepted back by their families.

By the time the girls reach an age of 12, they are oblivious to the childhood that they are missing out on. At an age when they should be playing in the grounds and attending school, they are satisfying the needs of cold-blooded monsters. This is the only life that they know of. They are unaware of the fact that most of them will never make it past the age of mid-30’s. AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases are rampant.

The Government has supposedly done a lot to clamp down on this to erase the image of Cambodia as a pedophile’s paradise. In spite of all the measures, the most horrific crime on earth still exists. And flourishes.

Of course, the future appears to be brighter than the present. Many girls have been rescued and are now involved in small scale industries. There is some degree of self-sufficiency and self-respect returning to them.

Now the burning question. What can be done to prevent this? For once I’m at a loss. I have no idea how this can be stopped. As long as perverts exist in this world, they will continue to engage in what I describe as the most heinous crime under the sun. Of course one way would be stringent punishment if caught. I strongly believe a person who is as merciless as to snatch the virginity of a pre-pubescent 10 year old deserves absolutely no mercy himself. He should be given death penalty and not by hanging – he should be killed in the most inhumane manner. Not only that, all the people who are involved like the "suppliers" deserve a similar punishment.

As for the prevention, well, I’m hanging my head in shame. Because I have no answer for this. I can only HOPE that all this stops sooner than later. And hope that somehow we make this world a better place for our children to live in - for starters: free of perverts.