Let us start with a nail-biting question. What is Childhood? Some might say that it’s the period of a living being when it grows mentally and physically. Some well-off people might say that it’s the best moment of our lives. But, not every one can say that, it’s the best moment of their lives. You might be astonished, thinking that I might be dumb, but after reading the complete article you will think “Can we really say that childhood is the best time of everyone’s life” And I would conclude saying a flat “No” to your thought.
Yeah, we know that there are many policies to protect children from doing harsh labour all over the world, but the Big question is that “Is just mere making of laws sufficient?” The answer again is a “No”. These laws should definitely be made but more over they should be implemented. Why is the government not doing anything? Ok, it is very easy to say that government should do something about it, but even we can lend a helping hand to this noble cause.
“Recently, I had been to Pokhara- a must visit tourist place in Nepal. It was not a really big fantasy for me to live in the best hotel there or go there, since by God’s grace I was born in a good family. But, now I think that this trip really showed me what life an under-developed country like Nepal could be. I am not going to talk about everything but just one instance. “
“Oh! What a holiday it was, we should go to such places often dad”
“Yeah, Definitely we should, it’s a relaxation to the mind and body, as well as we can spend time with our family, Next Dussehra, we will go to some foreign country, What do you think?”
“Yay! Yeah we should definitely go to some place like Dubai, Mauritius, Singapore, or why not just Goa?”
“Ok, we will think about it, when we get back home, till then, Switch on the music Driver”
So this is how the conversation ended, and I was peeping outside the car window enjoying the music, when I saw an awful sight, I saw little children working at a roadside dhaba. I don’t know what went into me, I asked the driver to stop the car. My dad asked me what was wrong with me, I didn’t say a word and leaped out of the car and went to the dhaba, and started clicking pictures of the children working. It felt like they did not see a camera in their lives before. They just stood there working, getting astonished by the flash over them. Then a child came to me and asked me, “Bhaiya, aap hamara photo kheech rahe hai kya?” I replied positively, and then he stood there smiling when I was flashing at each of the children and covering each corner of the dhaba. After I was finished with my clicking, I went to the child, who looked the elder of them all, and asked him a few questions. My conversation started of well, but ended with my walking away silently back to my car, with a silent crying heart, crying out to help them, but I could not. The child had a smile on his face when I started interviewing him, but he ended up crying. My conversation with him was not so long, neither complicated. I just asked him about the conditions that made him come to work to this place and not being able to study. And his reply was very simple but heart touching “My father and mother gave all of us birth, but they could not help us live our lives the way you do, so this is just our small effort to live our lives to the bare minimum level” Before my next question, He was the one who questioned me. “You are the first one to talk to us, others just come here, eat and go. Why are you doing this?” I had no words to say after that, I just walked out slowly in to the car. Then, it was my dad who went out, gave some money to them, and scolded the owner of the dhaba for employing such small children. Then suddenly the youngest child of them all came to the car and said “Bhaiya, I hope that you will come back again, I will miss you.” For me it was the best moment of the trip. Then the other child came to me and said that “I hope that this conversation with you did not go a waste” This is what inspired me to write this article. Although it is not so good, I felt like sharing it with you all. Because, in such type of socially sensitive matters, I don’t think that it’s words that matter but it is the feeling. This is my step to help them, LET US SEE WHAT IS YOUR NEXT BIG STEP
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