CHILD RIGHTS
The Child Prodigy runner Budhia is again in news. His mother complained to the Police alleging torture of the boy by his coach. The boy is also in a joyful mood of being freed from the rigorous routine of exercise. He is elated by being asked to hoist a flag and treated as a hero by the other boys in a slum. So far so good.
Some tantalising questions are bound to hover over our minds.
1. Who gave the enduring and strong body to Budhia, enabling him to run 65 km. in spite of his being a child. God? Parents?
2. What is the role of the Coach in a) training Budhia b) bringing Budhia into public glare?
3. Had Budhia been in his parents' custody, would he have not been made a domestic servant or a child labor in a restaurant or in a mechanical shed? Would not that slogging have been a greater dredgery than a coach's rigors?
4. Of course Budhia alleged cruelty on the part of his coach such as his pouring chilli powder in his eyes. It is now clear why or how the coach had resorted to such ignoble acts undeserving of a true benefactor and guru. Was he using the boy as a money making tool?
5. Higher income parents also, nowadays thrust home work, tuitions and other drudgery on the children against their will. Their precious childhood is lost in to satisfy their parents' ambitions of their wards becoming doctors and engineers. Cerainly, when they grow up, they may become doctors and engineers. But who will give them their lost childhood? Is wealth a substitute for a joyful childhood?
6. Many-a-time a person enjoying his childhood in joyful pursuits may lag behind in education and fail to get a good job in a competitive environment. As an adult he may curse himself for not being a book and examination worm. A child knows only its present: cannot foresee its future which will unveil. This the parents know by their own experiences.
Striking a balance between allowing a child to enjoy its due and also keeping it on the track of progress is a challenge of the 21st Century for parents.
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