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This is the story of Radha, one of the children in the
Bhuvaneshwari community - Eight year old Radha has never played with a toy in her life, except a special one that she cuddles every day as her parents leave for work in the morning. The toy she plays with is her baby sister that she tends to besides taking care of other domestic chores. She cooks and cleans the house. She does not know how to read or write, does not know what it is to wear good clothes or shoes and has never been out of the community. Probably, she has accepted her way of life.... Her parents are illiterate and may not be aware of the gross injustice they are causing their children and even if they were, do they have any other option ? With five more mouths to feed, Radha's father as a mason at a construction site and her mother's income from her employment as a housemaid in a posh house in the neighborhood is hardly sufficient to see them through. Worse still, Radha's father is an alcholic and beats up her mother every night after getting drunk. Once a woman is married her whole existence revolved around the husband and a half dozen kids. She has to put up with all forms of injustices meted out to her. The family resides in a slum with no proper sanitation facilities - Bathing to them is a luxury they can ill afford and hygiene remains a mirage. Radha's brothers accompany their father to work at construction sites. Nothing, it seems will change in their lives. At the age of 20, they will probably get married, bear children and perhaps treat them in the same way as their parents, for they have not known any better life. This is the story of just one family and there are about 500 such families in the Bhuvaneshwari community in the same plight or even worse. Can we be silent spectators watching these young children's potential go to waste ? |
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