That’s what it costs us, relatively rich, Mumbaikars for a single night out at an average night club. And that’s not counting how much we spent on dinner before we reached the club. Or number of drinks we had. Or the cost of the clothes we wore. Or the fancy car we gave to the valet.
And then there’s this and this, where parents of young girls are, “Caught in the vicious cycle of poverty, the cash-strapped parents can ill afford to refuse an offer that helps them earn Rs 100 per night”
Rs. 100/- a night. Imagine that.
Here’s me. I want:
A new Video iPod
A new Phone too - preferably the iPhone (yes, loving apple these days)
New Shoes (can never have too much of those)
New Jeans (I can’t seem to get the right shade of basic blue I want)
- not to mention the daily entertainment I crave. I want to go out with my friends; see movies, club, eat, drink & be merry.
And then there’s Moushumi, a 10 year old girl, one of the Bengali girls rescued from Bihar after being locked up, beaten and forced to dance sleazy numbers in front of violent, gun-toting crowds.
Here’s what she says:
“Although they beat us up, they served good food. It was much better than what we get at home”
Because of that, 10 year old Moushumi is willing to risk everything and go back on the stage.
And I, well, I’m not sure what I can do or what I want to do. But I know, I must do something.
Tags: Bengal, Bihar, Child Trafficking, Consumerism, Hostage, Inequalities of Income and Wealth, Mumbai
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February 12th, 2008 at 4:44 pm
The article doesent say that the girls are being forced into these performances. The ‘Horror’ refers to their kidnapping and being beaten up. But they were not forced into going to Bihar and all of us know that Bihar is not the most law-abiding place in the world.
Poverty can be cruel-but the girls father earned Rs 1500 /month. In interior bengal (or even slum-area Bombay ) thats really not bad enough to justify sending your kids into sleazy dance performances. The blame lies with the kid’s father, lets not push it anywhere else.
February 12th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
“local tout - Somnath Dandapat - lured them to Sodepur in Kolkata … … they were made to board a Tata Sumo around 7.30 pm and told their venue was a three-hour drive away. But it turned out to be a much longer one. Panic set in when Somnath and Asim forced them to hand over their mobiles. The dancers were trapped. The vehicle sped out of the state. Early next morning, they reached Gopalganj and were taken to a heavily fortified house guarded by gunmen. All nine were herded into a small room and locked up”
And it’s not just one set of parents, apparently it’s a common thing. See this link:
“Girls often leave with the dance troupes, never to return. Trafficking has assumed a completely different dimension in these areas. At every locality, such groups are formed in the name of dance schools, where girls in the age bracket of nine to 14 are inducted.”
Anyway my real horror was the extent of the inequality of income and wealth. I really regard Rs. 100/- as nothing - and these girls are willing to risk everything for it.
It all doesn’t seem right to me - as I said, I’m not sure what to do, but feel that something must be done.
February 12th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
@Ashutosh: I agree with you that the blame lies with girl’s father but we should also think that why he is pushing his own daughters to that hell… Answer is simple: POVERTY…
February 13th, 2008 at 7:29 am
there is a painful divide in our society — the poor slog for the privilege to earn Rs 10 a day, to support an entire family, just meters away from the rich who are willing to pay over Rs. 20,000 for a bottle of dom perignon. its sad — tell you what Melody, if you want to make a difference in your own small way — skip that ipod — donate the equivalent amount of money to some kind of a charity — CRY — or S-Prayas – let’s see what you’ve got – if we all shed our consumerist attitude, the world will be a better place.
That aside, Rs. 600 for a Jack D.
, here in the U.S. it’s equivalent to India’s D.S.P. — lol — I always make it a point to explain to the guy who owns the liquor store — “this J.D. tastes like D.S.P. — a whiskey available in India.”
February 13th, 2008 at 8:07 am
There is inequality here in America too, but it’s not as extreme as the inequality I witnessed in India and it’s not nearly as visible–at least not in New York. And trafficking is not as visible.
I’m stumped about what I as an individual can do. Unfortunately many, many charitable organizations are ripoffs. I suspect that’s a worldwide phenomenon. I can understand the impulse to give to charity, but I doubt whether much of the money given to charity reaches its target.
The solution I fell back on when I was in India was to patronize as many small businesses as possible, spreading my money as widely as possible to people who work. I also engaged in a very American phenomenon: I tipped up to American standards (generally 15% of the cost). Some auto drivers actually didn’t take tips. But many people were pleasantly surprised. Young kids who delivered things to our door–like bottled water–were delighted to get an amount of money that would be unthinkably small in America (the equivalent of a dime or a quarter). My bottom line: I wanted to reward work well done so the kids learn that working well has a chance of getting them out of poverty.
As far as trafficking is concerned, I didn’t read the original article. My knowledge of trafficking is that it is a worldwide horror that afflicts millions. I wish human beings were not like that, but unfortunately they don’t follow my ideals.
February 13th, 2008 at 9:03 am
For starters, you can give up the Video iPod…the iPhone plays videos too…
But seriously, yes! This unfortunate truth does hit home many times.
February 13th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
I am not a regular visitor, I just stumbled upon this blog while searching for something else and I must say you have lot of substance here. It is heart wrenching to see so many kids being forced into doing so many horrendous tasks when all they should be doing is leading a normal life like going to the school, worrying about their homework. Instead all they worry about is the next meal of the day.
It is easy for us to say things like, “I consider Rs. 100/- as nothing”, but think about all those people who sell groundnuts for Rs. 2/- at the traffic signal. How much do you think they must be making in a day? I don’t remember ever buying those nuts from them; all I do is curse the traffic and pray for the signal to turn green. And if amid comes a ray of hope in the form of a young girl who can earn extra money, they don’t think twice to force them into doing all this. I am not saying all this is right, but think about them and the limited options they have. Poverty and hunger can lead you to do anything.
The situation is quite grim and it’s encouraging to know that you want to do something about it.
February 13th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
All iPods have video.
February 13th, 2008 at 2:52 pm
All Ipods do not have videos and the topic is not about ipods or iphones. Melody,if the situation bothers you, you need to do something about it–instead of just complaining. Forget about your ipod and maybe send that little kid to school. It’s the thought that counts when it comes to charity. One cannot control everything.
February 22nd, 2008 at 1:41 am
[…] I never would have believed that the well-off in India would be wrestling with the same moral issues as those of us well-off here. This is a posting by Indian blogger Melody […]
April 24th, 2008 at 7:04 pm
I’ve been searching for a reputable dance school and have come to the conclusion that the most priciest isn’t necessarily the best school for my daughter