When the kids of sudhar camp aka potty nagar were asked what they wanted to be when they grew up the answer was: teachers, doctors, firemen, policemen…
Now the parents of these children left their homes to eek out a better living in the city and do menial jobs: rickshaw pullers, vegetable vendors, household servants, small shopkeepers then how and how can their kids dare dream otherwise..
This was the reaction of a visitor from another land.. with malice to none I would like to ask a simple question: does not one see children of workers become doctors in their homeland..
Come to think of it, maybe that is where the tragedy of our land lies: the labels we stick on people that stiffle their future. So the son of a domestic worker will remain that even if he becomes a CEO! That is probably the modern day avatar of the erstwhile caste system.
We at project why dare to dream and teach our children to do so.. if they cannot fulfill their dream, they can fulfill it for their children…and the road is one: education, the one possession no one can steal or take away from you..
India will change when quality education is imparted in each and every school, and that can only happen when our modern rulers accept to do it, when NFEs and parallel systems of learning are done away with…
And have you ever thought that in the dream the child expreses lies the hurt he has seen: and if a sudhar camp kid aspires to be a doctor it may simply because of all those who died around him because no doctor was there to help, or if he wants to be a policeman it is because of the helplesness he felt as a tiny tot when policemen humiliated his father in front of his eyes..
I do hope that out of this anger and hurt comes out the will to break invisible barriers and fulfill impossible dreams..
Children have a right to dream, so please do not take away that right from them…
may they succeed!
he wants to be a policeman it is because of the helplesness he felt as a tiny tot when policemen humiliated his father in front of his eyes..
and when the ‘system’ doesnt allow him to become a policeman, he joins the other side to take revenge from the system!! Story of a amitabh era hindi pot boiler, can be the truth too!!
it is all a matter of chanelising energy the right way..
and it can be done one child at a time.. if we are willing to do it
Hello Ms.Bakshi,
I remember you fondly when almost 4 years back you were prompt in replying to my E-mail seeking information about your work at the slums. You were kind to invite me over whenever I was in Delhi. Sadly I could not make to Delhi yet.
I am so touched by the simple way you describe great deeds. I too want to help the slum children in our Hyderabad city, and as a first step started with a nearby slum in the outskirts. I now understand the uphill task that it is, but I won’t give up.
The main problem is the motivation. How to do that? How to keep those children off the street , to the gambling( oh there are so mnay versions!) the fights etc..?
How to convince the parents tos end them to the free teaching classes?
I wish I can get some guidance from you! Am being too demanding?
I draw strength from the good work done by people like you
May God continue to give you strength.