Save My Childhood

[Courtesy: flickr.com]

Yesterday, I visited a garage for motor-bike washing. All the employees of the garage were busy in one activity or the other. I asked one of them "Gaadi dhool jaayegi kya?"

"Wahan khadi kar dijiye, ladka aa raha hai dho dega"

"Oye Bhalu, kahan hai be?"

"Bhalu?"

"Haan Bhaalu humara ek khatarnaak jaanwar hai"

Then a small kid comes and starts washing my bike. After washing, he asks me for Rs. 10 to get varnish. While he was polishing, I ask him "Teri umar kitni hai?"

The boy replied "Sir, 9 saal"

"Kitne paise dete hai yahan pe tujhe?"

"3000 rupiyye"

"Paise kya saare ghar pe deta hai?"

"Haan Sir"

"Aur papa kya kartey hai tere?"

"Upar hai"

"Upar matlab?"

"Chhat pe"

"And Mummy?"

"Dono Saath hi hai"

"Kaise?"

"Ek TB se, ek Cancer se"

"Ghar kahan hai pe hai phir?"

"Punjab mein?"

"Phir tujhe yahan kaun leke aaya?"

"Garage waale bhaiyya, bhaiyya acchey hai"

"Tera school jaane ka mann nahi karta?

"Karta hai, yeh kaam chhod ke chala jaaunga 3 mahine ke baad. Mera naam bhi likha hua hai school mein. Abhi kuchh paise kamaa lun phir jaaunga. Achha aap mujhe 60 rupiyye hi do, polish aapki thi naa isiliye?

"Chal mein chalta hun, waise naam kya hai tera?"

"Dilip Kumar"

"Arrey waah, tu to yaar sach much ka Dilip Kumar hai", saying this I leave the garage and came back to my house. All along the drive back to my home, I was just thinking, what can be done to save this child. Complaint doesn't make sense, as the garage owner has given this singled child a new life to live. He is feeding him food and also behaves well. I cannot take him home as he does have a home in Punjab and he has a brother and moreover I do not have a stable future of my own. 

The Pain:

There are many-a-times when I am confronted with such situations and maybe we all are, at least in a country like ours. I tell you, it is very painful to see when those tender hands are subjected to harsh chores and occupations. Some of these works are even difficult for adults like us.

An Ever-Cynical Racist

Last month I met a person who was going back to his ancestral place after a gap of nearly 20 years. I asked him "20 years! Would it be appropriate if I could ask you "WHY 20 years?"

He politely said "It doesn't matter to me as I know even if I tell you, you could help me no more than nothing"

This very statement pricked as if a broken chip is pricking your body from your pocket, sometimes curious sometimes annoying. It took me a moment to gasp the meaning of those very lines, but after a while I could not help myself and asked him "Why 20 years, don't you like your hometown".

Mr. X replied back "It is not what you think, but the thing is that I am fed up being called an alien in my own place. The place I am going is not my hometown, it is the home for my parents and their parents, but what about me? I was born in a small nursing house in Delhi, I was taught to treat other people as uncles, aunts and sisters. Now I realize that they were neither my real uncles or aunts, nor my real brothers, sisters or friends"




[Courtesy: indianexpress.com]

Such an anguish and such grief brought a change of tone in the voice of that person. He realized this immediately and refrained from speaking a word more. Humanity seemed to have betrayed its own child, he was crying, he was asking for help, he was in anger, he was in fear, but we all turned our ears deaf to ignore the pained soul.

After a brief pause, I came back to him " What wrong has happened with you?"

The man replied "You have the same skin and you have the same colour but my eyes aren't like yours and I have a surname that you people can't spell. Now you know why I am termed as a "Chinky" and now you know why people like me have been threatened to leave this place".

"I feel terrible when I see other north-easterners leaving in jam-packed second class railway bogies, may be they aren't as rich as me. I wish I could help them but I don't have enough money to help them all"

"One friend of mine came to drop me at the station, he was crying and told me repeatedly not -to-leave, but I am left with no other option. I am worried for my wife and my small daughter. They might kidnap them anytime and can spoil their lives. This has already happened with one of my relatives"

"Police says 'Mind-your-dressing', but do you think that wearing the dress you like provokes barbaric feelings?"

"Our Laws boast about protecting us by providing reservations and restricting entry of outsiders in NE states, but don't you see how people treat us when we get those jobs."


"I have an ancestral home in Arunachal, people call it the land of rising sun, but I do not feel any development in that area. It might be because of nature or may be due to military or government, I don't know. All I know is that north-east people are the true Indians and they have been warriors ever since they realized that they are connected in one main-land. We do not like Chinese, yet we are called Chinese. Government is wary of Chinese aggression and developments cross the border. If I tell you that poor people are lured for food and country liquor to work for Chinese roads, would you believe that? But they do not want to be a part of China, they are Indians. What else can they do? If your bellies are empty you are left with no choice but to work for feeding it. Add to it you still love a country whose government does nothing or little for you. Still we are Indians and we have been taught to have tolerance and patience."

"Recently I was looking at the census figures, I find that NE India is as good as any other state or may be better, be it girl-boy ratio or literacy. This is in-spite of so few hospitals, schools or colleges here. Then why we are not loved by others."

" I do not want to compare but could you tell me why it takes 4 days to find a chief minister's body when it took just a few hours to find the body of a similar state's CM. The difference does not lie in the name of the states, but the difference lies in their treatment."

"Few years ago we started saving our forests and tress, the forest officials started destroying our huts and boats. They called police and then the rest is story. They said that they want development, but development means nothing if it not for man-kind. Our elders have taught us songs and rituals which connects us with our nature. Should we let axe-cutters destroy their soul? No one likes when his home is being burnt or a bulldozer comes thrashing fields. So did we."

"I am sorry but I could not stop myself" says Mr. X

[Courtesy: firstpost.com]

For a few moments I felt as if I am one of those accused. I was looking at that man who was just started, I wish I could hear him more. I myself is a blabber-mouth but after a long time did someone outspoke me. I was feeling that feel of being connected with that man.

"Did I Speak too much? You seemed to be very silent!" said the person.

I replied "No, no. I was just thinking that it is not the government which failed us but ‘we people’ are the most racist. We do not like Biharis in Maharashtra, South Indians in North, Assamese in Bangalore, Marathis in Bihar, and god know how many more.

We are Hippocrates when we are to attend functions of friends belonging to other religions or castes. We say that White-skinned people hate Indians. The hatred is even more when we see African students being ill-treated in my own place. Forget the UN fight against racism or government’s inability to deal with the Assam insurgencies, our media is also handicapped. The evil lies in the very roots of our upbringing. I wish all were born without a surname, without a religion or without a caste in this great country, but then there are other problems also. Brother-hood is of no meaning if minds do not meet and hearts do not connect. Everyone find brotherhood when times are not-so-good. May you find good brothers in every place! Treat me as your brother, I wish you all good luck, May you have a happy journey”


[Courtesy: deccanchronicle.com]

Saying this, I shook hands with him and de-boarded the train. I looked outside for the rickshaw and asked him to drop me to a nearby hotel. He told me “Saabji 30 rupiyye lenge lekin aapko bata dete hai ki area achha nahi hai, wahan ********* rehte hai ”

“Chalo chup-chaap! de denge tumko 30 rupiyye”