Slum Dog Millionaire .....

"Slumdog Millionaire"........ The movie was awesome. Anyways, many people liked it as well....... but I have a special reason...... or you can say a past incident in my memory.

This is an incident which could have changed the life of a 2 yr old kid.......

July 1983:

Summer vacations in school was about to end.......A family was coming back to Mumbai by train after vacation. Train reached Kalyan (Maharashtra) station. A gentleman stepped down the train to get water. He didn't realized that his 2 yr old son was also running behind him. His mother thought that he was accompanied by his father. It didn't took much time before kid was lost in the crowd.
Father came back to bogey and when child was not found with him, everyone was tensed, mother was not able to hold her tears....... and soon many were on the platform on a search mission for a 2 yr old kid in red dress. Train was scheduled to depart, but kid was still away......... requesting the station master, train was stopped for a while and police was inform.
Nothing went right in first half an hour till a fellow told police about a person leaving platform with a small kid in red dress. Soon, the guy was caught, going through the railway tracks ahead the platform. Kid was given back to his father and the guy was beaten black & blue by the fellow passengers and later was taken into custody by Police.
People told that he might be a child-thief, generally who kidnap children and force them to beg.

Back to the movie........ Slumdog Millionaire......the scene was going on where hot oil was poured in the children's eye and were made 'Soordas'. The whole story of that 2 yr old poor kid is flashing in my mind....... what would have happened if he was not rescued............ it was just a matter of luck that he was found in the railway station limits itself......... Otherwise, he might have been on some Traffic-Signal ........ without eyes, legs or hands....... don't know...... even the thoughts are scary......begging for "livelihood"...... just one question always comes in my mind....... for "whose livelihood"?

And you would be thinking, why this incident is so important to me ???

The child was no other than me !!!!!!


One more incident of train journey is flashing in my mind......

April 2006:

It was a journey from Kolkata to Bangalore. Morning 7 O'Clock....... train stopped at Rajamundri (Andhra Pradhesh) station and one small kid........ just 7-8 yrs old........ entered in our bogey ...... was wearing just a half-pant....... with a dirty cloth in hand,with which he was cleaning the floor. When he came near to me, got to see wounds and scars all over his body. There was a fresh mark of stitches on his forehead....... seems like somebody had hit hard on his face. How cruel would be his parents.

I was just in my thoughts and a small hand came to me....... not asking for help but for money. Anyways, he had done his job. Its an irony that its not the world's largest employer, the Indian Railway, who keeps the train clean but these kids. And its the money given by people gives "them livelihood".

My hand went into my pocket......but was not coming out. Out of curiosity, I tried to talk to him. To my surprise, he knew Hindi, not that good but could communicate.
He didn't came to this profession at his choice. He was from Orissa and one day he had fight with his parents. He left them in anger and boarded a train without knowing its destination and that too without ticket. Ticket checker caught him and he was left on this station. He didn't had even a penny in his pocket. One "good fellow" gave him food and shelter. But his innocence didn't knew that in this world, nothing comes for free.
He was forced to beg with other kids of his age by that man. He was beaten blue & black whenever he said 'NO'. Scars on his body were telling the story itself. When asked, why doctors are not complaining to police when they are taken to doctors for stitches. The answer, you won't like to hear............The wounds were stitched by that man only..... without anesthesia!!!!!!
No doubt, he had no other choice than to obey his orders.
My hands were still in my pockets. They came out, but were empty. May be, my 2 rupees will help him get at least 2 meals a day....... but may be ......this '2 rupee' given by us is responsible for thousands of children like him to be in this state........... to earn "livelihood" for "someone else".....

After this incident, I never felt like giving money to beggars......I don't know, how far my argument is logical and correct...... but................

Some incidents in life do change our perspective towards many a things........ and it was one.

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It ends my 2nd blog that I started 5 months back....... ended today....... but old habit - dies hard..... and "Some people Never change" :o)