The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : When next meal is cause for anxiety

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Nov 14, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

When next meal is cause for anxiety

Bageshree S.

Childhood lost: What a burden our children carry.

Bangalore: Twelve-year-old Dyamavva (name changed) from Bellary district came to Bangalore to earn money and send it to her poor parents back home. The girl, fortunately, was spotted by a member of an NGO working on child rights before the big bad city could plunge its claws into her.

The girl was inconsolable when she was brought to Child Welfare Committee (CWC), set up by the State Government to address cases of child rights violations. “She was completely worked up and kept saying that she should be left to work and send money to her parents who are too poor to feed themselves and her. It was impossible to convince that she was too young to work and would end up being exploited,” recalls Vasudev Sharma, chairperson of CWC.

While the source of anxiety for an upper-middle class child could be loads of homework and lack of play time, it is related to the fundamental question of survival for a vast majority of children: Where will my next meal come from?

“A middle class child might get anxious when the father or mother spend long hours at work and come home late. In an urban slum, the situation may be the opposite. Arrival of the father might be the cause for anxiety. He may come home drunk and beat the child,” observes Mr. Sharma. “The father, in turn, may be the victim of an exploitative, dehumanising system.” With all avenues for relaxation and entertainment becoming increasingly expensive and market-driven, a poor child is more likely to fall prey to addictions and substance abuse.

“Anxiety levels tend to be particularly high among migrant children,” says Mr. Sharma, “because they come to the city with big dreams and the realities here shatter them.”

Some children brought before CWC are those who have been caught by the police for petty thieving and roughed up. “They come literally shaking in fear,” Mr. Sharma says.

It is far easier to rescue a child from exploitative situation, observes Mr. Sharma, than to find an alternative situation where he or she can be free of the anxieties of survival.

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