THERE'S STILL NO MERCY FOR THE GIRL CHILD ...

                                                       

THERE'S STILL NO MERCY FOR THE GIRL CHILD ..

                        THERE’S STILL NO MERCY FOR A GIRL  CHILD…..!

               Every day  on  my way to the office I  used to pass them- a small family – father mother and a small child, a boy , may be a year and a half  old. They  had made the pavement  near the  car parking area ,their space. Nobody seemed to mind.

The man appeared to be  a cobbler as  repairing  footwear was his main  occupation However I had seen him repair umbrellas too. They were not  local people. May be from one of the nearby States. The  woman was  either sitting with him, helping him , with the child placed  nearby on a  small mat. The little boy  was mostly  playing with the  knick-knacks  or  gazing at the vehicles and passersby. The woman  used to hang out the washed clothes to dry on the compound wall of the play ground near the parking lot. I had witnessed her shouting back at the Security guard who forbade her from doing that. She continued to use the wall as clothes  dryer ! I often wondered where had  she  washed the clothes and where  they lived. They were there however early I reached office and would be there however late I left.  Attempts made by me  to  be friendly with them were met with  absolute indifference.  On a couple of occasions I  gave some old toys to the little boy, who  took  it eagerly. The woman only glanced at me and continued with her work. She always   had a formidable    expression whenever I tried to smile in greeting ,which put me off.

One day, while passing by ,I noticed that there was another child  lying  next to the little boy who was sitting up and playing. It was a very fair chubby little girl  -must be five or six months old. I wondered  where the baby came from. I had not seen the woman pregnant nor was she away even for a day. The woman took fond care of the child, just as any  doting mother would! The  child  seemed to be  almost an ANGEL in the midst of the   dirtily clad  threesome!!!

During lunchtime talk , one day, I gathered from a colleague that the couple had bought the girl child from its mother , a  vagabond, who found the child an impediment for  eloping  with  her lover. The  mother reportedly wanted to  put  the child to death but the cobbler couple had  taken her custody paying the mother a price. The  purchase price was not revealed but my colleague gathered that  a sum of Rs.1000  was reported  to have been paid.! That day onwards I had nothing but admiration and respect  for the couple. Imagine  adding  a burden to their poverty filled life ! To think they had welcomed a girl child to their fold!  I felt like shouting from roof tops to the world- “LOOK HERE, WHEN THE BIRTH OF A GIRL CHILD IS  CURSED BY EVEN THE RICH AND EDUCATED , HERE IS A POOR COUPLE WHO TOOK A BABY GIRL INTO THEIR FOLD, THUS PREVENTING  HER MOTHER TO GIFT HER TO DEATH ! SUCH A NOBLE DEED  !   THEY CARED TWO HOOTS FOR ADOPTION LAWS ! SURELY THEY HAD HEARTS  WHICH WAS NOT AS DARK AS THEIR SKIN. TAKE A CUE FROM THEM! “  I spoke about them with pride to  my friends  and  colleagues. To  me they were role models  to be  projected before  the  enemies of the girl child!!

  Months  later , I left  the city upon transfer and  returned after  some years. I happened to  visit the same office. Upon alighting from the car  I felt  there was something missing. It did not take me long to remember the cobbler couple  who used to occupy the pavement near the parking area. .I  made casual  enquiries  with the colleague who had given details about the cobbler couple. I was in for a rude shock. It appears that the couple  had used the girl child for begging .The angel-like  chubby  innocent  but unkempt looks  of the child were  an advantage as it evoked the sympathy of people and ensured good returns. The child  had reached adolescence. The  man and woman were scheming to use  her for furthering their income through all nefarious means. The colleague was in the know of  all this. Many others in the locality also noticed  this.  So the cobbler couple changed their  working place to another part of the city.  But why did my colleague not report it to the Child  Help Line  authorities ,I asked . He  looked at me as though I was crazy . Why should he invite trouble on himself by doing so and in any case who had the time--- it was none of his business… I was tempted  to  call up the Police or  the Child Help Line myself. But….Yes, the same thoughts  raced through my mind too? What  could I prove? What evidence did I have? Who would listen to me ?  Once again I felt  like shouting from the roof top – this time  it was –“ NO …..NOTHING HAS CHANGED-  IN INDIA THE GIRL CHILD WILL  CONTINUE TO REMAIN  AT A DISADVANTAGED POSITION  FOR A LONG TIME MORE  , NO MATTER  HOW MUCH  THE  HELPLINES,NGOS , STHREE VEDIS  ETC  CRY HOARSE ..”       

It is injustice, it is unfair, it is inhuman ..my heart cries  out…but  the fact remains that many a girl child in our country is still crying for mercy….