THE LIGHT FROM THE DARKNESS!

November 14, 2001, Bangalore and other parts of India will celebrate DIWALI. The visage of every person will be gleaming with joy. Ever thought of those faces, which brought the gay to the faces of thousands of people. It’s the face of those children, deprived of all basic requirements and HAPPINESS!

They are 'baught' there by agents by paying some amount to their parents. They promise only a 'light' work and good care. But these words perish the moment the children land in the workshops where the crackers are manufactured. Some parents even don’t seem to know that their wards work in those places. They are told that the children would work in rice mills or so.

The reality starts to stink from there on. The children are subjected to all kinds of occupational hazards possible. With harmful chemicals rendering all sorts of abuses to the epidermal layer the smoke and noise polarize on destroying their mental posture. The working hours ranges from 15 to 18 hours a day. This routine works non-stop for over a year. Holidays are literally unheard of among the children. Only on rare circumstances the children are allowed to go to their homes. The time period is restricted to a day or two.

The food supplied here is non-palatable and less in quantity. The children tend to lose their normal appetite and physique once they enter such workshops. The pollution and other hazards further tend to weaken a child. There are many incidents when children are prone to death in such workshops.

These children who produce the crackers for our DIWALI are those who do not get a chance to live the day. The day when we burn crackers they are indulged in the production for the next year. Remember that, each cracker that explodes into numerous bits of rag paper is actually the explosion of a child's dream, its ambition, its life and its very existence.

Hence practical minded friends who come across this writing, please think for a minute before you are lost in the celebrations. Diwali can be celebrated with lights and sweets. Crackers are not a must. By using them we not only encourage such workplaces but also put an end to the lives many innocent children. Why erase a child's life knowingly or unknowingly.

LET US VOW NOT TO CELEBRATE THE FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS, WITH CRACKERS, WITHOUT CHILD LABOUR BEING ABOLISHED! !

Only words won't put a stop to these brutal acts. Let us accomplish this vow and try to make this world a better place to live in.

JAYANTHAN R

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