by Anuradha Bakshi | Dec 9, 2006 | Uncategorized
A few days back we had made some courtesy calls, to find out about the well being of some of our children.
This morning, little Deepak made his return courtesy call. It was a very special moment for all of us. He came in his grand mom’s arms but soon decide to show us all he could do with his brand new heart!
He pranced around, giggled and even marked his territory. Our thoughts went back to the days where we could see his tiny chest heaving as every breath he took was a almost Herculean effort.
As I watched him I wondered what would become of him in the years to come. I really cannot imagine as in spite of all odds a host of possibilities await him.
I can however visualise what would have happened if his surgery had not been done. He would have lived a few short years, heaving and panting till his tiny broken heart would have given up.
It took very little to make the difference, just a few caring hearts.
To all those of you who have helped us repair broken hearts a big thank you.
by Anuradha Bakshi | Dec 8, 2006 | ghaziabad girls, two indias
One week ago we were celebrating the rescue of the girls after a 24 hours vigil! Most of us would have liked them to come to Nirmal Chayya Delhi as initially planned. But, in spite of the presence of two autonomous central bodies. National Commission for Women, and the central reserve Police Force, reality struck: we were in Uttar Pradesh, a state known for all the wrong reasons.
One week ago people across India were watching the story unfold on TV and voicing their horror. It took the Supreme Court of India’s intervention to see that the girls were rescued and the abuser arrested.
A hearing was held on the 5th but the medical reports and the NHRC account was not ready. Slowly the media moved on to other things and the little girls once again became invisible. The nest hearing was for today. I searched desperately for some news but in vain. At 5 pm I called Anchal and was told that the hearing was again postponed.
We are all too aware of the ways our legal system functions but how can one not be disturbed by numerous questions that remain unsanswered. One cannot but remember the fact that for over 20 hours the girls and their abuser remained sequestered together, and wonder whether they were threatened.
The Supreme Court granted them security but one to be supervised by the administrator of a UP town; will the medical officer give a honest report. That the girls were ill treated dirty and lived in squalor was there for all to see. But what about the sexual abuse. This is no a rape case and remembering the contempt with which the swami dismissed the girls as being of bad character may lead to him being able to get away. He can simply say that they were abused by someone else!One of the persons who has visited the ashram every week shared another chilling fact; She was shown a register with 80 odd names. In her opinion there were about 60 odd girls when she first went, only 43 were rescued. Where are the missing girls.
We have launched a signature campaign mainly aimed at creating a support group and giving a voice to these girls.
Please join it
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by Anuradha Bakshi | Dec 8, 2006 | common school
I have watched with despair the comings and goings of the new admission policy for nursery classes in public schools for quite some time. Had it not concerned children, I would have been amused.
We are once again faced with the normal beating around the bush attitude that we seem to have perfected to a T in India. Many of us have known the woes of getting children admitted in schools. The scurrying around to different parts of the city clutching forms and dragging a bewildered if not traumatized kid. This after having subjected your darling to distressing sessions of one of the numerous teaching shops that have mushroomed.
So when a petition was made to the High Court about setting a child friendly admission process we were all relieved. But the feeling was short lived as the point system proposed seemed far from clear and open to many interpretations. The one that caught my attention was the fact that interaction with parents was allowed but not interviews. I wonder who will decide if the lines have been crossed. I cannot see desperate parents getting drawn into a semantic or linguistic battle!
One of the parameters stood out: proximity to the school. In it I could almost sense an imperceptible step towards the common school, something I have always held as a solution to many of the problems that plague us.
Nursery admissions in the capital’s municipal school is still fairly easy. here the problem lies in convincing the parents. A quick perusal of any part of our city shows that it is dotted with government run schools – notwithstanding the state they are in – and all have ample land around them.
Children should be able walk to their school. Imagine if that were true: no buses or rushing RTVs, no long hours spent commuting…
What a dream
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by Anuradha Bakshi | Dec 7, 2006 | ghaziabad girls
In recent days we have witnessed many convictions of high profile people. yesterday the Supreme Court passed a landmark judgment stating that no permission is needed to prosecute public servants charged with corruption case.
Most of the aforementioned cases have come to close because of public outcry. And with new tools such as the Right to Information Act, we are inching towards a day where corruption will be hopefully contained.
Tomorrow the Supreme Court will hear the cases of the 40 odd little girls who were rescued their tormentor barely a week ago. A week has gone by and they are yesterday’s news, the media has moved on. These girls do not have mothers, or friends, or fathers to fight for them and get the justice. Their abuser does have supporters or a least the money require to hire some!
Yet these almost invisible souls need a voice and only we can give them one. Some may say that they are many more such cases and maybe they are right, but that does not give us the right to hide behind indifference. If the medical reports tomorrow do not mention sexual abuse, then the case is almost lost.
This case is not just about these girls, the very ones that their abuser dismissed with contempt, but it is to seek justice for all those girls who were in that ashram before them and seem to have gone missing, and for all the girls who are being abused.
Rescuing the girls was just the beginning of a long journey. On the one hand these little girls have to be rehabilitated and knowing the realities of many of the state and government run centres, one has to think beyond that. Remember there are young girls, small ones and challenged ones, each having specific needs. They all carry deep scars, that need to be healed with love and care. On the other hand the abuser needs to be nailed. let us not forget that no matter what transpires, one cannot forget the abysmal conditions they lived in.
We need to do whatever we can. Please joing our signature campaign and add your voice to ours
We hope and pray that justice will be done.
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by Anuradha Bakshi | Dec 6, 2006 | Uncategorized
In times when nets and cell phone proliferate, making courtesy calls is almost an aberration. There was a time when paying a call was the only way to get the news you sought. Oddly, in some cases it remains at times the only way at our disposal.
Three calls needed to be made: one to enquire about a lost smile, the other to our cerulean boy, and the third to a mother who needed to be admonished.
So we set off in the watery sun of a winter morning. The first stop was at Nanhe’s in search of the elusive smile. We found him a tad better, but no sign of the smile. His body was less swollen though the pain was still visible on his face. On checking the hospital papers we were horrified to se that his weight was a mere 15 kilos, a stark reminder of the fact that he had barely eaten for the last two weeks. His brave mom filled the silence by telling us that the doctor had asked her to come by this afternoon to get a date for the operation. We realised that what was comingin the way of the surgery was the poor condition he was in.
A few mental notes were made by all of us: get some liquid food supplements, provide transport for the hospital visits, get his teachers to come by and sit with him. None of us spoke as we left him. We had not found the smile.
The nest stop was to see deepak who we were told had come home. As news of our arrival traveled fast, we were met by Deepak himself in the arms of his much relieved grandma. We were happy to see him as gone was the blue hue that had worried us so much. He was as pink as can be and gratified us with a huge smile. The only reminder of his 7 months ordeal was a scar that began almost at the base of his throat.
Next we had to meet sapna and monty’s mom, as the two kids had plaid truant for far too long. We found her sitting at her tea shop. She was looking weary and dragging her feet and told us that she had not been able to get them ready in time. We did chide her and extracted a promise that she would make the effort, but in our hearts we knew her problem. Sorry for being graphic but this poor woman has lived for over two years with a prolapsed uterus. When we had tried to get her operated it was discovered that she had a heart condition and needed a valve replacement. That had been done but somehow the uterus had been forgotten.
We told her to get to the hospital and fix her surgery and that we would help in whatever way we could remembering that the last time the operation had not been done because she had no one to donate blood.
The calls were over.. we returned back in silence
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