Winter was at its zenith in Delhi on 31st Dec night. I
was returning from Noida to Delhi in my office bus. I saw a few blue colored polyethylene tents on
roadside and flames coming from cooking stoves. Soon I realized that those
tents were occupied and the dwellers inside were cooking food for their last
dinner of the year and of course, the decade. At that night, when most of the
readers of this article were in celebration mood, those people were not sure
whether they would brave chilly winter winds of Delhi and would be alive to
welcome the new year.
Sensitive nerves of my brain were jolted. We feel the fiery
winter bite even though we are well protected by cemented walls of our rooms
and ensconced inside our ‘Cosy Korean Blankets’. But these people on pavements
give an open challenge to the tingling winds of January. And in their armour,
you can find just a few blue polythene sheets, a couple of dilapidated
blankets and semi filled stomach with negligible nutrient contents.
Why
this contrast of destiny to citizens of the same city? Why?
In another scenario, on the very next day, the auspicious
1st January 2010, I went to meet my sister who also lives in Delhi with her
husband and their four years old daughter. I was touched by their concern to
protect their child from cold though she was fully covered by woolen clothes
from ‘Monkey Cap’ at head to ‘Woolen Socks’ on feet. It is natural for parents
to take extra care of their babies in winter. So after spending two full days
there, I was returning to my place by Blue Line bus, the famous ‘Killer on
Delhi Roads’. The drizzle had added more woes to commuters
who were already struggling with the densest fog of the season.
Oblivious of the plight of bus driver and unfazed of
inhospitable weather conditions outside, I was making full use of my window
seat. I was peeping into the modern beauty of Delhi. Then at a traffic signal,
I saw a girl who was probably five years old. She was holding a circular ring
to show her acrobatic skills. She was begging for money from a biker with two pillion riders in front of the
Police though our Government has banned the act of begging. Begging scenes like
this at traffic signals are not unusual in Delhi. But what jolted my sensitive
nerves again, were her bare feet. The five year old was standing barefooted on
the rain soaked road in such chilly winter evening. I was
deeply shocked to see this pitiful condition. Many thoughts crossed my mind like
if she was insulated from cold, if cold has different levels of impact on
different people?
But the most contrasting and ironical were the two pairs of
feet, one of which was of my niece whose feet were under constant caring eyes
of her parents, who were not letting her step out of the blanket without her socks.
And the other one was the girl on wet street whose feet were bare. Her parents were not at
all concerned whether she was wearing anything on her feet,she was feeling cold or hot. Their only concern
was to count the money she would beg after showing her acrobatic
skills to commuters at traffic signals.
Why
such an extreme contrast of destiny to kids of same age group? Is it just
because one is born to a well-to-do family and the other to seasoned beggars?
Though these kids are born to destitute parents and are
compelled to beg at such a tender age, our Government or We as human can not
ensure a better childhood to them. Can’t the Police prevent these parents from
forcing their kids into begging? Can’t we ensure them the minimal needs of their
childhood? Though dwellers of blue tents are born with pitiful fates, can
Government or we as fellow citizens of the same country bring some better
viable accommodation to those
people for whom winter is nothing but a curse and the New Year is nothing but
just another day to survive.
I wish I won’t see such dismal and
disheartening conditions of our kids at traffic signals on next new year.
