She looks up at the skies in hope – a hope of liberation
from the shackles of labour. But soon, her master’s screams send her crashing
back to reality. She is only ten years old, yet forced to work as a servant.
Her family needs the money to survive. In her heart, she wonders what she did
wrong to fall into this punishment. She looks up at the skies again, but all
she can see are dark clouds, echoing the gloom in her life.
Such is the story of over 126 lakh children in India today.
In addition, roughly 140 lakh children in the country have never seen the
inside of a school. We are a land of contradictions – India dreams of becoming
a superpower, yet a third of the world’s poor still reside here. India is one
of the fastest growing economies in the world, yet home to the most number of
malnourished children. Indians are part of the most educated circles in the
world, yet the country is plagued with illiteracy.
