by Anuradha Bakshi | Dec 10, 2006 | Uncategorized
I just got some pictures from katy who has been a regular visitor to the ghaziabad ashram for the past 4 months. Somehow she never gave up, even when others did..
I spent a long time looking a them and was moved to see how quickly and easily children forget the ugly things and seek the beautiful ones. Of all the children I saw in pictures, it is this young handicapped girl who touched me most, as it seemed she had evolved her own way of dealing with things by withdrawing into a chilling immobility. She sat in one place, her arms hugging her body, oblivious of what went around her.
So imagine my surprise when I saw her smile in the picture. Even she had dropped her defences for that tiny moment when someone cared to show her love and compassion. Children are amazing beings, particularly the handicapped ones. They carry no hate but are willing to forgive you and trust you.
Wonder whether we are worthy of that trust!
by Anuradha Bakshi | Dec 10, 2006 | Uncategorized
I have been perturbed about the future of the ghaziabad girls. Often when I am uneasy about something I sit quietly and let my thoughts wonder in an unbridled way. It fills the terrible emptiness that threatens to devour me, and often brings some solutions or at least some direction in which to proceed.
I can imagine the girls in their Mathura home, with no known face, huddled together in the cold wondering what will happen to them. They must have been subjected to humiliating medical examinations, incessant questioning by total strangers and much more. No matter how indulgent one is, any government run shelter in Uttar Pradesh must not be a great place.
The ghaziabad girls as they are known all have names. I know a few: Ila, Preeti, Meena, Rinki. Wonder who gave them those names. Maybe someone who loved them, as one girl did mention her mother living in a Delhi slum. They had been living in that house of horrors learning to survive, comforting and protecting each other as best they could. Now they face the unknown, even the threat of being separated. What an ordeal that must be.
The abuser is behind bars for just another 6 days. I wonder what the charge sheet will look like. He may just be able to walk free if one is not vigilant. Have the girls been able to tell their story, will they have to face theur abuser.
Wonder what one can do toe ensure that justice is done. When I first wrote about the plight of these girls, there were many reactions. As the story unfolded one could feel the palpable anger that it brought. Kaveeta wrote about it passionately and came up with the idea of concerting efforts in a wiki simply called we need you.
Yes, that is the bottom line: we need you, you here being every human being with a shred of decency, every person who claims caring for children, every one who believes in justice. In the recent past we have seen the power of civil society in many high profile cases. We need the same civil society to stand up for these girls who have no father, sister or peer group to help them, but just have you!
Please join our signature campaign
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 | Uncategorized
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 | Uncategorized
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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