A love story!!

A love story!!

10th Grade

As I sat there in English class, 
I stared at the girl next to me. 
She was my so called 'best friend'. 
I stared at her long, silky hair, 
and wished she was mine. 
But she didn't notice me like that, 
and I knew it. 
After class, 
she walked up to me and asked me for
the notes she had missed the day before. 
I handed them to her. She said 'thanks'
and gave me a kiss on the cheek. 
I want to tell her, I want her to know
that I don't want to be just friends, 
I love her but I'm just too shy, 
and I don't know why. 

11th Grade

The phone rang. On the other end, 
it was her. She was in tears, 
mumbling on and on about how
her love had broke her heart. 
She asked me to come over
because she didn't want to be alone, So I did. 
As I sat next to her on the sofa, I stared at her
soft eyes, wishing she was mine. 
After 2 hours, one Drew Barrymore movie, 
and three bags of chips, 
she decided to go home. 
She looked at me, said 'thanks'
and gave me a kiss
on the cheek..I want to tell her, 
I want her to know that
I don't want to be just friends, 
I love her but I'm just too shy, 
and I don't know why. 

Senior Year

One fine day she walked to my locker. 
"My date is sick" she said, 
"he’s not gonna go" well, 
I didn't have a date, and in 7th grade, 
we made a promise that
if neither of us had dates, 
we would go together just as 'best friends'. 
So we did. 
That night, after everything was over, 
I was standing at her front door step. 
I stared at her as She smiled at me
and stared at me with her crystal eyes. 
Then she said- "I had the best time, thanks!" 
and gave me a kiss on the cheek. 
I want to tell her, 
I want her to know
that I don't want to be just friends, 
I love her but I'm just too shy, 
and I don't know why. 

Graduation

A day passed, then a week, then a month. 
Before I could blink, it was graduation day. 
I watched as her perfect body
floated like an angel
up on stage to get her diploma. 
I wanted her to be mine-but
she didn't notice me like that, and I knew it. 
Before everyone went home, 
she came to me in her smock and hat, 
and cried as I hugged her. 
Then she lifted her head from my shoulder
and said- 'you're my best friend, 
thanks' and gave me a kiss on the cheek. 
I want to tell her, 
I want her to know
that I don't want to be just friends, 
I love her but I'm just too shy, 
and I don't know why. 

Marriage

Now I sit in the pews of the church. 
That girl is getting married now. 
and drive off to her new life, 
married to another man. 
I wanted her to be mine, 
but she didn't see me like that, 
and I knew it. 
But before she drove away, 
she came to me and said 'you came !'. 
She said 'thanks' and kissed me on the cheek. 
I want to tell her, 
I want her to know
that I don't want to be just friends, 
I love her but I'm just too shy, 
and I don't know why. 

Death

Years passed, I looked down at the coffin
Of a girl who used to be my 'best friend'. 
At the service, they read a diary entry
She had written in her high school years. 
This is what it read: 
'I stare at him wishing he was mine, 
but he doesn't notice me like that, 
and I know it. 
I want to tell him, 
I want him to know that
I don't want to be just friends, 
I love him but I'm just too shy, 
and I don't know why. 
I wish he would tell me he loved me! 
.........'I wish I did too...'

Caught between penury and pipe dreams

Despite several laws by the government and steps taken by NGOs, the vicious problem of child labour continues to exist.

Satrajit Sen

Toiling hard from morning till night they are a band of weary-looking, scantily clothed, emaciated yet unyielding boys working in the many roadside eateries of the city. Hawking wares on streets and wooing customers, they are forced to labour monstrously everyday. Aged between 7 and 14, they suffer the purgatorial existence for money that run their families year after year. And this despite the various NGOs crying hoarse against child labour.

Despite various programmes to enlighten children and parents from the rural areas, the problem of child labour seems to grow more vicious everyday. Hundreds of minors come to the city with the dream of working in city shops and earn good money, and a few are even forced to toil hard owing to penury and family pressure. Newsline makes a survey of the situation.

The inside story

Most children working in the city shops are aged between 10 and 14 years. While some volunteer to work for money, others embrace the dogged life owing to family pressure. Brought from distant villages across the state, these kids are taught the tricks of the trade. Though employed as assistants, the children are put to rigorous labour every day. And once you make a mistake or violate a rule, you are in for a good roughing up by your seemingly generous employer.

It is a painful sight to watch the poor children work stoically with drooping shoulders. And they say they are used to the tortures and suffer it without any remonstrance. For any rebellion would lead to expulsion that is a definite blow to their dreams. The stall-owners thus rule the roost and it is the complete monopoly situation that allows them an upper hand over the naive little creatures. And lo! these kids are often paid a paltry for the daily labour. There is no one to stop the injustice taking place and in spire of defying the laws set by the Indian government, the defaulters go scot free.

What does the rule say?
According to the Child Labour Protection Act formed in 1986 by the Government of India, employment of children under 14 years is totally forbidden. According to the rule, children above 14 years who are appointed in laborious jobs should not be put into any hostile situation. And if there is any breach of law, the accused would be subjected to severe punishments.

But despite the laws there are numerous cases of child labour reported from the city and its outskirts every year. And the victims are mostly aged between 8 and 10 years. According to a survey in 1997, 16,046 children in West Bengal were found to work under hostile situations without a proper pay. The number shot up to more than 3 lakh in 2000. But still the government seems blind to the issue.

What the sufferers say
According to most of the children working in the roadside eateries, they have adapted themselves with the situation. Working in hostile situations with a poor pay is no longer an issue to them. Suffering the daily grind, the hapless, little workers are happy with a hassle-free life without drawing the wrath of their employers. No recreation and fun almost a distant dream for these kids, most of them say that they suffer from midnight psychobabbles. At an age when schools should have been their only destination and dream, these children are a part of a gloomy, insipid existence in the dark lanes of the city. They are a group of silent sufferers and it is a fact that they are more sinned against than sinning.

While most wallow in a beleaguered existence, some still manage to keep aglow a faint dream at the dark end of the tunnel. Given a chance, one of the minors working in a road side dhaba would invite the mesmerising Shah rukh Khan to taste delicacies in the eatery he works in. “I wish one day I could invite Shah rukh Khan to savour a plate of Chowmin in our shop,” said Nabin, a teenager working in a stall at the Dalhousie area.

Just like others these children too have dreams of being a footballer, a cricketer, a doctor, a singer or an actor. But pragmatic that they are they have learnt to accept the fact that they are poor labourers and mere dreams won’t fetch them food.

Child labour, today, is a burning issue. And despite the government and various NGOs putting up a fierce fight, the vicious problem seems to show no sign of defeat. Parents should understand the need to educate their children and must be enlightened on concepts like family planning. It is mass education and wide-spread literacy, therefore, that seems to be the only solution to a cancerous disease like child labour.

Originally published in http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=187045