The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : A ‘line’ of sparkle on their faces

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Wednesday, Oct 29, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

A ‘line’ of sparkle on their faces

B. Madhu Gopal

A voluntary organisation’s gesture makes streetchildren happy on Deepavali day

— Photo: C.V. Subrahmanyam

JOYOUS OCCASION: Streetchildren celebrating Deepavali at a programme organised by Childline in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday.

VISAKHAPATNAM: The little ones gave a patient hearing to the dignitaries as they waxed eloquent on the vice plaguing society and advised the children not to fall a prey to them. It wasn’t as though the children were happy to receive moral lessons. The bait at the end of the meet was too good to resist.

They were the streetchildren, runaway kids and working children who came from diverse backgrounds to the Railway Institute near the Railway Station. Their common bond was the trauma that most of them faced in their families that made them flee their homes. The very thought of playing with fireworks seemed to make them forget their sorrow at least for a while. They were all grateful to Childline for realising that they too wanted to play like other children on Deepavali day. They had no words to express themselves but the joy in their eyes and on their faces said it all. Many of them were dressed in tatters while some of the girls and boys were neatly dressed. Most of them didn’t even wear slippers but the fear of stamping on the sparks didn’t scare them.

Open house

As the open house and a couple of cultural programmes concluded, the children took no time to form a queue to receive their packet of ‘fireworks’ from the organisers.

The volunteers quickly lit candles and placed them in the veranda beside the main hall.

The glow on the faces of the children was evident as they received the packet and moved out of the hall to light the flowerpots, ground chakkars, sparklers and torches.

One little boy asked: “Sir, can I take these home”? He was a working child who had two more siblings at home. The older boys had a gala time turning the sparklers round and round, as it resembled a ‘Vishnu chakram’. While some of the onlookers looked scared as the children could injure themselves, the boys and even most of the girls didn’t show any signs of apprehension and thoroughly enjoyed their freedom.

Earlier, Childline Nodal Director B. Devi Prasad recalled how he was moved when he saw streetchildren picking up half-burnt crackers from the streets and how they missed their family during such a joyous occasion. He said that Childline has been organising Deepavali for street children for the past six years.

Bangaraiah, Resident Medical Officer of KGH, who participated as chief guest, said that alcoholism was leading to separation of parents and resulting in disintegration of families. He hoped that these kinds of activities would re-integrate the runaway kids into the mainstream of society.

Director of Childline Collaborative Organisation G. Sumana said it was a small gesture to dispel darkness and bring light into the lives of the little ones.

A professor in the Department of Social Work B. Vijayalakshmi described Deepavali as “children’s festival” and felt that they should be happy at least on that day.

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