she was a delicate woman,fragile with long hair and a beautiful face..
her smile was innocent,her enthusiasm obvious
she was cleaning the floor in an internet cafe.
she was 14
she was getting married at the end of this month
i’m a law student and a woman but that has got nothing to do with it.i am no one to judge wot makes her happy.may be it’s best for her.but,has she been given any option to choose otherwise.
wot kind of a world do we live in.
i know child labor is not only impractical to ban,but also arbitrary,at least she’s earnin her food.but is that all.does food become the beginning and end of a poor man’s life?
i think.
if at all,our country could provide education for all,may be there would be independence in true sense
i read in my fav book ,a question that still sends ripples down my spine
the question was “are you free?”
you are,if you can say no..if you have the freedom to say “no” then you are free and that’s all the freedom you need.
i think education alone gives us that freedom.freedom of choice,freedom to be able to say “no”
if you know of any other way then I’d love to know.
i share a fragment of my life 
8 Comments
uhm..this might unwind unto more than a short comment.
in an estranged post, at the old blog-address, i read how you stood muted – an observer – as a poor lady lost a free ride to her distant destination, in lieu of yourself [paying for the same ride].
a heightened sense of guilt, lasted all but a few moments, and then you [as we all do, indeed, as i have done too] returned to your own life, whilst the dejected lady went along her solitary way.
i’d state that it is not literacy, or education, or even [lame] free disembursement of cash, that might help our nation. indeed, it’s only when we learn to say “yes” and choose to reach out to others ourselves, that freedom can be realised.
even though you are educated, you kinda lacked the ability to set aside your inhibitions and offer her a ride [at your expense maybe]. i’ve been through something like this, and much like yourself, i chose to remain muted, since i got too concious. unfortunately for me, the guilt, still lingers on.
education never ought to give one a freedom to refuse. if one were to look upon this realistically, we all know that education is hard to come by in the country today. so it has got to be left to people like us to stand up, and assist those who are tied down. if we’re free, it’s time we take up some responsibility on our shoulders. say “yes”, and not just stand silent.
as to the girl. well, yes, there is a limit to what you can do. but i never said that we should go around butting our scarce asses into everything in life. as i once said to you, it’s best to “choose” wherein to lend a hand, so as to benefit the largest audience. won’t state the entire plan in public, but i’m sure the idea carries through.
if, today, [i’m being practical, not in the least hoping what i state comes true], you were to lose your parents, and finances were to go limp, and since you still haven’t graduated, marriage would seem like a worthy option to help yourself ‘get by’, you might be compelled to take that option. education would kinda fail to stand by you. get it this way – if child marriage and child labour are two neccessary evils, then maybe the girl’s benefactors [parents, mostly] figured that the former option was the lesser of the two evils.
in closing; the little girl was free to refuse marriage, run away, and pursue her passions elsewhere. then again, freedom comes burdened alongwith responsibilities. and often, we must live up to them. if we are educated, we bear the freedom to pursue fuller lives, but also the responsibility to lend our support to those that aren’t as well off. how many of us choose to live up to the responsibility? very few.
gnite.
Ahh… I see Shantaram has weaved his magic here too 🙂 …
As for the post… an interesting one to say the least… though i like the above comment better..
Present time, child marriage is a curse in the global society. Child marriage is a violation of human rights. In most cases young girls get married off to significantly older men when they are still children. Child marriages must be viewed within a context of force and coercion, involving pressure and emotional blackmail, and children that lack the choice or capacity to give their full consent. Child marriage must therefore always be considered forced marriage because valid consent is absent – and often considered unnecessary. Child marriage is common practice in India, Niger, Bangladesh, Pakistan Guinea, Burkina Faso, Africa and Nepal,where mostly girls are married below the age of 18.
Child marriage has its own worse effect on the young girls, society, her children and health. Young girls who get married will most likely be forced into having sexual intercourse with their, usually much older, husbands. This has severe negative health consequences as the girl is often not psychologically, physically and sexually mature. Child brides are likely to become pregnant at an early age and there is a strong correlation between the age of a mother and maternal mortality and morbidity. Girls aged 11-13 are five times more likely to die in pregnancy or childbirth than women aged 20-24 and girls aged 15-19 are
twice as likely to die.
The above is an extract from Arun Kumar essay “Child Marriage as an Human Rights Issue”. This essay was ranked among the top ten essay in Human Rights Defence’s Essay competition 2008. If you would like to read more, visit: http://www.humanrightsdefence.org
Yours sincerely,
Tomas Eric Nordlander
HumanRightsDefence
thankyou arayans on your elaborate and expressive views on the topic of child marriage.
arayan,i agree that “education for all” in our country is not achievable immediatly since our country still suffers from 30% illiteracy but at the same time i vehemently disagree with you when u say that its for the “privileged ones” to shoulder responsibilty and lend support.can u please elaborate on how the privileged individuals can ensure a uniform sustainable growth in the standard of living of the masses by their unanimous individualised efforts.such efforts have to be a collective action which is planned and implemented in stages to ensure growth that targets each and every section of the society and not just those who will be helped by the privileged ones.the masses do not need help.its their right.education is a right and cannot be given as mercy.and its time our govt ensured education as a birth right.its a distant dream but not in d least impossible.
“thankyou on your elaborate and expressive views” :
stop being so formal, silly ! 🙂
and mr tomas,
brilliant facts..however, this is precisely why i despise facts – the entire extract only seems to build up dissent against child marriage, but not once does it further itself onto providing an effective solution. we all know that facts for our country, well, ‘suck’…but it’s time we grew out of it, and looked to correct them. 🙂
brilliant link, btw. though yes, i still hold that the essay is too idealistic in its approach, and whilst the solutions mentioned are (in-theory) effective, the essay fails to provide a clear ‘means’ of implementation.
and miss-formal, i disagree with you when you say that education is a birth-right. i just do. as you say, it’s more a ‘privilege’…plus, i’d want to rip you apart on the notion of what ‘education’ really is, but well, guess i’m in a good mood [:P] don’t mind…
and i also believe that when the so-called ‘privileged’ ones take up a task in-hand, it’ll snowball into a collective action. any movement starts off as a small one, but catches on if it is moulded aptly..most reform movements and welfare measures weren’t govt initiated..
i’d elaborate both points, but i think it’ll get too long (if not already so).
ahem ahem.!!!
mr formal suddenly turned all informal,i would have liked the length of your worthy comment to have comprised of effective “implementation” methods which u found lackin in my essay or give a better way of judging the gravity of situation other than by way of “statistics” something which u claimed to despise ,but u unfortunately failed to delve into either and ur comment comprised of nothing but the v “relevant” though valued(:)) information of ur good mood and ur criticisms of the writings of mr tomas and myself.
pleasure to have recieved your attention on my blog.
@arayans,
waitin to b ripped apart on my notion of education .granted though that i took d privilege of adoptin a myopic view of education and equated it with formal education alone.
also,i would once again like you to substantiate how would the privileged ones takin action “snowball” into a collective action.
smarty-pants,
you know i can’t post on my blog anymore, and keep inciting me to reply…which means that i must post here…
hmmph..lawyers ! 😛
requesting some time.