AUR SHANOO CHALI GAYE

AUR SHANOO CHALI GAYE…… Have you heard? Yes, there was some news and the the news channel were screaming at their full throttle. You know since there has been proliferation of news channels they have mushroomed like anything. They just create hype about anything& then all of sudden forget everything about that issue as if all the substance has been extracted. Is this not a new brand of yellow journalism? This needs deliberations in our society, that in the name of freedom of speech and fourth state which form of journalism is to be encouraged.

But the point is that Shanoo chali gayeee. Who is she? Shanoo represents the section of society who has no face, no voice, underprivileged & deprived who can be found anywhere like wild grass- weeds, you know. Shanoo is one of the millions of children who are abused most in nowadays advanced society. Here the social engineering works and every child has more or less same tale to tell irrespective of their strata to which they belong in our highly fragmented society. Our society is trying to tune in multilayer system wherein every layer has lateral & longitudinal movement against each other. Thanks to our social engineers who are known by the name of politician. They owe a lot to this fate of achievement.

So who has the time to think about Shanoo but let me tell you that Shanoo is still alive. There are millons in our society awaiting their fate. Have you seen a young poor girlchild in a metropolitan city going on the streets in chilly winter morning along with her mother to work in a household to wash the dirty utensils, cloths? Yeah, now here you are – she is Shanno. It matters to whom that since 4 AM in the morning she is awake and has already walked 3 to 4 km to get to nearest public transport. And it does matter altogather to anybody that after work she has to rush back to her school at 7 30 AM where she studies in a govt school run by our government in seat and will have midday meal there which is distributed daily but most of the time on papers. Her parents cannt afford to send her to a public or private school. What to talk of this? They cannot send her to school even if Shanno does not earn her school fees by working as house maid.

I happen to pass daily to the nearby busstand after the office hours and stop for a cup of tea in the roadside dhaba. There I usually find Shanno washing the glasses, bringing the tea, taking orders of butter toast and frying it on the pane as if it would have been her life on the fryingpan itself. Anyway one day I ventured to ask her that when she would go to home? Prompt was the reply. Sahaeb- you mean that chawl which you call drainside slum. Sahaeb that is not our home, infact we do not have any home. We just go their to sleep. My father also comes in the late night very high in spirit, I do not know what he says to my mother. He drags her to a corner who is half asleep due to running around all along the day. Then they do something like wrestling . Sahaeb I do not have time to watch all that. After all I have to get up early, 4 AM to go to school. Why so early? The govt school opens up at 9 AM. Nahi sahaeb, Memsahaeb has to go to public school at 7 30 AM to teach , so I have to reach there at 5 AM for the kitchen cleaning. That is our school. If I do not go there then how will I go to Sarkari Pathshala. Sahaeb hum to school nahi jate hai, school jise public school kahte hai waha to memsahib jati hai .

I was thinking that till now this Shanno has told me a lot of stories but she has not replied my question. I could not restrain myself and asked Shanno how old are you? Very prompt was the reply- Sahaeb, in this winter I will be eight years old. OK, When is your birthday? Sahaeb , in my school it has been written as 1 July because school are opened after summer vacation that time but my mother says that it was in winter when I was birn but no one remembers the actual date. I was reminded in my mind the original question and asked hurriedly before I could miss my bus. Shanno, when will you go home? She replied today I have to go to pedestrian way near my chawl because abba has not paid hafta to that policewallah so today we will sleep on the roadside pedestrian way. My mother comes around 7 PM daily after completing the household works in the locality houses and then she picks me up. Shanno, you will be happy then that now you will sleep at your pathway in the open sky be watching stars. Yes, but one more thing is to be done, I have to cook the chapaties for dinner and which we will eat . If lucky then my mother will bring the sparable curry given by memsahaeb otherwise we have have lot of salt at our home. I preferred to take leave of Shanno otherwise I would miss the bus. While getting on the bus ,I was thinking that only people like Shanno do eat the salt of our country. Thanks God, at least somebody is there…

Have you seen Vikash? No. He is Shanno brother younger by one year. The surprising fact is that they manage this gap very meticulously. Just one year gap. So the vikash has not started going to sarkari pathshala but has already been getting the lessons of life. Vikash father goes at 11 AM for work- a ragpicker. He cannt go earlier because it is difficult for him to get up early. He is a hardfast socialite, meets his friends daily in the Chameli bars and invariably gets delayed to get home. So Vikash father takes him along and leaves him near the traffic signal where he remains through out the day- cleaning the cars windows which stops there, showing them Shani Bhagwan Statue in the afternoon, selling 3 PM papers and begging in the evening hours till 9 PM when her mother will pick up him too. Where does VIkash take lunch? What is this? Yae kya hota a Sahaeb. Khana, Khana Kab Khate ho?. Oh Sahaeb ,we take khana in the night before going to sleep . If we do not take Khana then how do we work?

There is one more friend of Vikash who remains with him through out the day. His name is Tommy. This name sounds strange. Yes, he is Doggy , the best friend of Vikash. Vikash was happy to tell me the story when they both had befriended. Some two year back, Vikash used to live on the railway station with his mother. That time the father was not there. He does not know that where his father had gone that time but Vikash had noted that in those days Shanno too was not there with him. So the mother and son used to beg on the station. One day so happened that Vikash was asking for money from a traveller on train. That time that man had thrown the little basket containing left over puri and sabji. This was the golden opportunity for Vikash so he rushed towards that little basket to catch hold of it. That very moment Tommy was also nearby and tried to snatch the basket. Then there was little skirmish between them but after a moment Vikash thought not to fight with Tommy and they both happily & friendly had shared their booty. Since then both are good friend and there has been no let up on this account till today. Vikash remembers that then one man with a girl had come to his mother. And slowly they both became friendly like Tommy has been with him. That is how Vikash got a sister Shanno, father and friend Toomy . All five of them then had moved to railway station drainside chawl. Vikash has been happy since then.

But today Shanno has gone. Vikash is not able to understand that after coming from school, that’s too after two days –why she has been sleeping in impeccable white sheet? He will fight with her mother that this partiality in not good. He has been asking for a new bedsheet for last one year but it was not given to him but today she had given it to her instead to sleep. Vikash is confused also because his mother is constantly weeping and father is sitting in police station for last two days.

Shanno had all the desire to study, read and become a big sahaeb like Mensahaeb where she had been working but she has not returned from the school at all. Will she remain ther forever? This is not good, Vikash will fight with her that he also needs her company to play with her. How can she remain in school for forever? Will Vikash really be able to fight with Shanno?We all know the answer that no, now vikash cannot fight with Shanno. In fact now he wont be able to fight with Shanno ever. KAUKI SHANNO CHALI GAYE HAI.


We have to think that what sort of society we wish to leave for our future generations. The most deprived section of the society is CHILDREN. Nobody thinks of them .We do care for them , love them, pamper them but we never think to take their views. Ever we ask them that what opinion thay hold about a particular issue, happenings. What is their choice for a particular issue? We always assume on our own that he is a child and there is no need to ask him. We commit all sorts of violence to them not only physical but we do rape their emotions. While making them to study and obey some command, we thrash them too without any second thought.. Are they not citizens? Are they not entitled to basic fundamental rights like Right to living etc. When we cannot thrash a grown up person – how it is so that we thrash them very easily and get away with our crime. Even nobody notices.

Let me tell you that the children are the most vulnerable to physical and sexual harrasement. The childrens sexual abuse is a very burning problem with large enormity. The children are mostly abused sexually by there own so called uncle, aunti, bhayai and so on. They are susceptible to this type of abuse because they do not understand it and are easily intimated or induced into some form of allurement like choclate or toys or anything like that.

Our society do have a moral responsibility to check child abuse and this problem has to be effectively tackled if we want to see a better tomorrow. The children should be granted elementary fundamental rights for free secondary& tertiary education, free healthcare, protection against hunger , protection from domestic violence & sexual abuse.

Let us see that Shanno lives in our society like we are living and no more a Shanno is subject to that gruesome fate whish one of them has met.

NOTE- THE ABOVE NARRATION IS BASED ON REALTY AND NOT FICTION. SO THINK…