India Must Redefine SHAME!

Apart from rising levels of population, intolerance, violence, crimes against women and corruption the largest democracy of the world called India has been dictatorially making life most inhuman for its children—supposed to be its future. Had there been a choice many souls from the ether would have straightaway rejected the offer of getting born in India!

Endless herds of street urchins engaged or forced into begging, rag-picking, illegal trafficking and plain abuse. A whole vista of little innocent faces falling prey to the curse of child labor. NOT ENOUGH!

Lives nipped in the bud through widely practiced female foeticide and at a later stage through infanticide.  The male dominated dowry-based society bashing up and killing girl children brutally and at will. Newborn babies getting killed thanks to hospital negligence and callousness. NOT ENOUGH!

Those who are lucky to be able to get a little older despite the most hostile environment are falling into open holes that abound all around them-enticing them and trapping them in. Sufferings and deaths continuing in a vicious circle. NOT ENOUGH!

Those who are lucky to grow up in well-to-do city families are falling prey to kidnappings and physical abuse that lurk in unpredictable corners all the time. NOT ENOUGH!

A 5^th standard school girl of a cultured city of Kolkata and in a university that was founded by the Nobel prize winning poet-composer-writer Rabindra Nath Tagore. Her crime was she could not get out of her habit of bed-wetting. The hostel warden, incidentally a lady too like the Chief Minister of the state, was mercilessly decisive in punishment. The warden forced the girl student to drink her own urine to teach her a lesson for bed-wetting. NOT ENOUGH!

India must redefine SHAME and try FEELING it!

The Mingy Grandmother!

Stingy, mingy, parsimonious, frugal, prudent, thrifty—there are so many words for ‘miser’! We must be prudent in using a suitable word for our lovely grandmother who just had the habit. We decided upon ‘mingy’, but definitely ruling out the possible interpretation of ‘mean’. Hard core misers are hardly enjoyable! Those who are rather habitual ones with lots of confusion and contradiction are really amusing.

In a particular neighborhood there had been a grandmother who got the reputation of being a little miserly, but most of the times she was not taken seriously and was only laughed at. Further, she was never mingy to family and close relatives. Only when ‘others’ were concerned she behaved differently.

For all the ceremonial functions including a few weddings held in her household our grandmother always insisted on visiting the neighbors to invite. She used to meet the head of the family saying, ‘Please do come!’ and then adding in a low tone, ‘Only you…alone…okay?’ Afterwards when she found somebody attending whom she did not expect she used to accost him/her too warmly, ‘Hey dear! I am so happy you came!’ and then adding in an undertone not quite audible, ‘Would’ve been happier if you didn’t!’  

That afternoon grandmother was alone in the house with all members going out on different errands. Her youngest grandson rushed in home from school with a pal a little earlier than usual. Grandmother looked askance at the other boy!

‘Oh grandma, I am ravenously hungry! Give me something hot and tasty, quickly!’ Her grandson demanded.

‘Sure, my little darling! I’ll make you a steaming plate of noodles, two minutes…okay?’ the doting grandmother then turned to the other boy asking, ‘Dear me! You must be very hungry too, no?’

‘Yes…grand mom…!’ the boy said hesitantly.

‘Right! Then do me favor, honey! Run home quickly, have a good fill and join back here nice and cozy! Okay?’ 

India: The Hole Truth!

India is a country that is literally littered with gaping unmanned holes—you may call these as bore well or tube well, manholes, pits, shafts or whatever. These are found anywhere—streets, playgrounds or even residential areas in both urban and rural regions. Playful small children are the most vulnerable. They fall into the holes and die or get miraculously rescued sometimes.

The regularity of such incidents being ominously certain it is not known how many of these go unreported. The Indian media showed its tremendous interest only in 2006 when Prince, a small boy of five years, fell into a 60 feet deep open bore well in the northern state of Haryana. For 48 hours the rescue operation aided by army men went live across the country. There was palpable agitation and tension in almost every house in India as people sat glued to the television sets praying for Prince. The boy was finally taken out alive and there were celebrations all around.  Prince became a national hero.

Unfortunately, even after becoming a hero the Prince case did not inspire anybody to try prevent such cases in future or try managing the unattended holes. No lessons learned from the death-defying trauma of a small boy for 48 hours deep inside the earth with only pitch darkness for company. In 2008 another small boy called Suraj died after falling into an unguarded bore well shaft in the north-western state of Rajasthan. Later in the same year a two-year-old boy named Sonu fell into a 150 feet deep bore well pit in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. He was brought out dead after four days of rescue operation. The tragedy moved even the then President of India, Pratibha Patil, who issued advisory to all ministries and departments to take preventive action. 

 The incidents continued though. In the central state of Madhya Pradesh two-year-old girl Lalli fell into a bore well and was luckily rescued after five hours. The most recent case getting hysteric national attention was that of Mahi, a four year old girl from Haryana again, who fell into a 70 feet deep bore well just outside her home when running around merrily in the evening of 21^stJune, 2012. Local authorities responded late and precious hours were lost. The army men started digging a parallel shaft to reach the trapped girl and the rescue operations continued for 86 painful hours. When they finally reached Mahi she was dead. In fact, she died within six hours of falling due to lack of oxygen.

After all the agonized appeals and promises one more tragedy struck Haryana one more time. A boy of five years fell into a manhole yesterday and died submerged in toxic sewer. The gapingly monstrous traps continue to lurk all around and the kids continue to live dangerously in wonderful India. If one tries to think about the experience of a little kid down there in the dark helpless and alone, one can hardly avoid horrifyingly unreal chills going down the spine.

Astounding how a country 'manned' by over a billion could get to have so many unmanned holes!