PRAY FOR ME BROTHER...

Pray for me brother
Pray for me brother
Pray for me sister
Are you searchin’….
Pray for me brother
Lookin’ for the answers
To all the questions
In my life Will I be alone
Will you be there By my side
Is it something he said Is it something he did
I wonder why He is searchin’
For the answersTo stay alive...
and so goes the latest charbuster by A.R.Rehman. The first time i listened to this song, it gave me goosebumps. I mean literally! It brought to my mind the image that i associate with all those homeless street urchins alike- a toddy 2 yr old with a scrawny brown face covered with dirt and grime with huge wideset black eyes that twinkle like a flickering candle as they stare at you with eyebrows creased with suspicion. that small wraithlike body, torn discolored, dirty rags for clothes and crumbs which they gather from the bins, streets, traffic lights are their only 'possessions'. And this is the life which is more or less in store for them for the rest of their life.

In India, 90% of street children are working children with regular family ties who live with their families, but are on the streets due to poverty and their parents' unemployment. The remaining 10% are either working children with few family ties who view the streets as their homes or abandoned and neglected children with no family ties. Policy stresses programs to maintain, educate, and train destitute children and orphans. Policy is also to protect children against neglect, cruelty, and exploitation, but this is only on paper. A UNICEF study found that almost 40,000 children die every day in developing countries, 25% of whom are in India.
makes you wonder like like hell which world am i living in!! sheesh!!

The great Indian success story is being talked about and trumpeted in every part of the world. But how has it helped these children? Has a hike of 15-17% in the pay packet of the workforce across the country helped them secure a better future? Is there a special reservation for them at the elementary school level, forget institutes of higher learning? Has the much hyped about 'sarva shiksha abhiyan' been able to penetrate down to them? NO, NO and NO!!!

Next year it's gonna be 60 years to our independence. we have had left, right and centre leaning govts. throughout this period. But has it led to any difference? now if only we could have a caste or religion based census on this! then I'm sure every prick in the political circles would be talking about this! hah!! so much for being the largest democracy!! leave alone special measures, we havnt even been able to bust these beggary nexuses that everyone talks about, but no one does anything about!!
Candlelight vigils, hunger strikes may help grab eyeballs and garner media interest, but all it helps with is providing fodder for living room gossip. period.What i wonder is, why can't we have something like a 'bhagidari project' in cases like these? a govt. people partnership to save the lives of these young children. Or better still, as a celeb suggested in a TV interview i heard...those who strongly feel about certain issues like these, why not join various NGOs that work in this field! Doing so, at least one can have the satisfaction of having made a certain contribution towards something they deeply care about.