Friday, November 9, 2012

Life is Beautiful but not for all !

She laughed, she jumped, she hopped around and then she cried like a baby. I asked, "Why are you crying ?" She replied, "I fell and that is why I am weeping and now I want to see my Mom". She is here this moment and then cuddling her puppy the other moment. She emphatically declared that the lemon tea in my cup was not tea but was in fact "Drink". She even smelt the drink to confirm her verdict. Completely busy and all over the place; she is my new friend, Lakshmi.

She asked me, "When are you leaving ?". I replied, "Tomorrow". "So where will you sleep ?" was her next question. "In your home" I replied. She shot back, "Oho, not possible. People like you can't sleep in my house. You have to sleep in a hotel". Quite wise for someone so young, right ?

She announced, "My name is Lakshmi in school and that is my school". So I asked, "Which is that school ?". She replied, "Lakshmi Devi school". "So why are you here ?" I asked, "Why haven't you gone to school ?". Pat comes her reply in her own language, "My father has gone to bring money. He'll come back with lots and lots of money and then I'll join school after Deepawali".

She rushes into her makeshift shelter at the construction site and comes back with a slate and chalk. She shows me, "A, B, C, D, E, F" and asks, "Do you know this is English ?". I reply, "Well, I know a little bit". She assures me, "Don't worry, when my Dad comes back with a lot of money, I'll give you a lot of money and then you too can learn English from Lakshmi Devi school. It's my school and this is my home" she spreads both her arms widely and gesturing towards the under construction building where I am sitting and typing now. This is Lakshmi, whose mother works at the construction site and father is an imaginary figure. He doesn't exist because he passed away when she was hardly 3 months old on a construction site. He fell down from the top of the building. Her mother doesn't know any other job and has to work in the same unsafe and in fact extremely dangerous construction sites where her husband lost his life.

Lakshmi eats what is given to her by the shooting people. She hasn't seen the world outside. She is three and a half and should have been in school but is not there. Will she ever go to school ? But she has twinkle in her eyes and has enormous zeal for life that every kid is blessed with. But as she grows up, all the zeal will be replaced by disappointment, anger, dissent, and disillusionment. Life is beautiful but not for everyone !

I am here in Hyderabad accompanying my teenage daughter who is pursuing her dream and passion of becoming an actor. Leaving behind my job and the air-conditioned comfort of my cozy cabin in our ICCU, I am sitting in the dusty construction site as escort to my daughter because my mother and wife couldn't go with her this time.

I realized a few things. Becoming an actor is an extremely tough job and you need passion for that. I abhor the chaos. I also realized I can survive without air condition and my time-table. Life is much more intricate than the death-inspiring ICCU I am living in for almost 18 years now. It also gave me an opportunity to tell my daughter how fortunate she is.

But most importantly I realized a bitter truth. There are millions of Lakshmis in India whose mothers or parents can provide them with some food, makeshift shelters and a lot of dreams. Just beautiful but completely false dreams and nothing more. Growing up in permanently changing thatches and tents, the childhood is lost in being mere time-pass for people like me.

One person can perhaps make a small difference in the life of one Lakshmi or may be a few. But what happens to those million others ? I don't know ! Tomorrow I have to leave her behind and return to my fortress because that is the cruel reality. We can feel bad, we can blame the society, we can curse the governments and we can take stances. But finally we can do just a little bit to make life a little better.

I believe we need to evolve a system where every little child is assured of his or her childhood, education, hygienic living, decent food and some respect and not just crumbs of food and vainglorious sympathy. We need to make a difference. Can we ? Or will we ?

Dr. Punned-it
Posted by Govind Raj at Friday, November 09, 2012
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