Stop Sympathy ; Save Children 

 

 

Vikshang Dehi " - the tune has been highly familiar since the era of Goutam Buddha. Its still in vogue. Almost all the cities of independent India still see bare children, aged people, diseased and disabled lying or sitting beside the road, under the footbridge, in front of the temple gate and every otherwhere they can find a handful of crowd. They are beggars, stamped as wretched, helpless creatures who must be taken pitied. People pass by them; sometimes looking at, sometimes just ignoring the existence of their everyday observers. Some of them never care to waste a penny over these dirty, unwanted creatures. And there are some who think it a compulsory duty to ponder a coin over whenever he or she sees a beggar. Its an enough proof to show how kind and sympathetic heart he has to his companions and even to himself. Others think its a direct way to please God and earn some blessings and store them for the next birth as some good job done.

I ask why ? Why should this effortless profession be glorified to such an extreme ? Why children, being the most effective means of earning sympathy be always encouraged to starve purposefully? Have we ever asked ourselves - why are the children beggars? Why? Do a two year old baby choose the profession itself to satisfy its hunger? No. It is the adults who use them so. And why do the adults feel it highly profitable to use them? It is because of us. Yes, it is we , who are responsible for this inhuman state of kids and children of India. Seeing a children in wretched condition, we just feel an " ahaa" and drop the minimum amount of coin from our purse on the plate before and just go by satisfied. We are never angry, we are never sad , we are never irritated. We are only sympathetic and sometimes even not that. Sometimes we just throw coin out of our habit. Why ? Why are we so very indifferent to such a grave problem ? Don't we understand that our meaningless sympathy is snatching thousand of other crimes? I say, stop showing sympathy and save the children. Our sympathy is actually encouraging child trafficking and child abuse. It is spreading malnutrition and diseases among children leading an uprise of child death.

People may ask , how giving a rupee is leading a child to malnutrition ? It is actually a means to provide them with food ! No. It had never been like that. Because if the child buys food with that money regularly, simply it will lead him to be healthy gradually and we will stop giving him money the next day. We never take sympathy on a healthy , flappy child. Thus, the purpose fails drawing the crude business a near fall. Hence, the leaders who run the business will never allow the child to buy food and they will keep on starving for ever.

We are quite accustomed with the scene of being captured and surrounded by children , dragging hands, snatching clothes, and asking for food and money. Have we ever noticed which gender they are of ? Are they boys or girls? If I saw 4-6 years old girls among the group, I had hardly seen a 10 - 12 year old girl there. Why? Where have the girls gone ? They simply vanish. And where ? Probably we all know that.

And then that 10 year old boy grows young and we never see him again. We don't see a young begger. And the reason is the same. We don't sympathize a young, able man. So he is no more a profitmaking begger. Can we not apply the same rule for the babies and children also and save them from being beggers ?

You may ask, then what will the children do ? How will they earn their bread ? If being asked this some years ago, I would have no reply . But now I do. We are running mid-day meal in schools now. True, the children now have no need of begging alms. Schools are awaiting them with at least a meal everyday. So why are we throwing coins over them ? Why are we not carrying them to school ? People may laugh at me as I , myself tried it twice and, as obvious, failed. I failed because I was the sole person. But the day will come when I will not be alone. As long as we will keep on showing sympathy, the business will never run in loss and never be closed.

So, I again appeal. Come , stop showing sympathy and save children. Save India.

Photo courtesy : Google Image