Walking through the festive lanes around the Krishna Math in Udupi, flaunting its rich culture and heritage, KYS spotted a little gathering of people around what looked like a little street act from a distance. We could see a tight rope tied to wooden poles at quite a great height. Excited, we rushed towards it to see what they had to offer. But what we saw and digested in the next few minutes was pure horror. We were looking forward to the show before, but we were not anymore when we found out who was performing.
The little girl, about 3-4 years old was getting ready to climb the rickety ladder which was leaning over one of the pole stands. The innocent look on her face melted my heart. She wore an old glittery costume and her hair was tied into two little plaits with faded yellow ribbons, so tight that there was not a single free strand of hair playing over her sweet face. There was no smile on the face of this kid. She knew what she was doing, but certainly looked scared and reluctant. Even as we watched, she was up and walking on the rope, balancing herself with a pole in her hands, held horizontally. She walked the whole stretch, while we watched with bated breath. Just when we thought that it was over, she started walking backwards and my heart literally skipped a beat. Soon the pole was off her hands, and she still balanced beautifully. Next came a ring, which she stepped upon and traversed the whole stretch forward and backward. Some people cheered while we were silenced with fear!
The act came to an end soon. Those big eyes of the little girl looked relieved to have survived this act. She hopped around a lady who seemed like her mother, while a man who could be her father did his money collection. She had performed her act with a perfection that was commendable. But the awe we had for her was dampened as we began to wonder when her troop might have started training her, considering her tender age. The thought of the pain she must have gone through, just passed a shiver down my spine. I looked around and found some people generously dropping money in the aluminum plate placed in the center of the gathering on the ground. Some others just enjoyed the visual treat and walked away, while some others including me stood awed, and aghast. We did not pay, nor did we walk away! People began to disperse leaving behind me, my friends and a lady who we later came to know was a teacher in a government school in Udupi.
The man was busy collecting money and so we went to the lady who was in her early twenties and asked her if the girl was her kid. She couldn’t understand Kannada, the local language. So we tried speaking to her in Hindi. And this time, there was a glint of recognition in her eyes when we spoke, hinting that she very well understood us, but she still wouldn’t respond. By then we were joined by the teacher-lady too. We then went to the man who was apparently the troop head and asked him if he was the father of the girl and then this is how it went.
(Pointing to the little girl) Are you the father of this girl ?
Yes, I am!
What’s her name and how old is she?
Her name is Durga. She’s 4 years old.
Is this the only means of your living?
No. We have fields in our village where we generate some income. But in the off seasons, we roam around and perform on the streets.
How can you let such a little girl to perform this dangerous act?
We have trained her very well (pride in his voice). We are sure she will not befall any harm. She can even perform in her sleep.
Since how long is she being trained?
We taught her from the minute she learned to walk!
(Shocked) Oh my God! Why would you subject a child to such torture at such a young age? What if something happened to her? After all she’s a kid.
We have no other option. To get two square meals per day, we need to involve our whole family into it. Kids are no exception.
You say the whole family is into it. Then why don’t you perform instead of her and send her to school instead?
Even I perform at times. But people pay more if they see kids perform, especially little girls.
You did not answer my question regarding her schooling.
We send all our kids to school. She goes to school too. (Lies to our faces)
(Turning to Durga) Hey Durga, do you go to school?
(Just looks at her father and then to the ground, clearly scared to talk)
All of you are just earning comfortably, putting her life in danger while she is not even on the benefiting end. Do you know this comes under child labor and it’s a punishable offense?
(Just stops talking and looks away! Show’s over!!!!Sigh!)
All said and done, we knew there was no use scaring the guy, because if not here, he would put on his show someplace else. They were a traveling troop anyway. Moreover, we sensed pride in his voice for having trained the girl, rather than guilt! It did not matter to them. But it did to us! We did not pay them any money for the show in spite of being blown over by the girl’s talent and bravery. For we knew, at the end of the day, all of it would probably be spent in a bar! In any case, the girl was in no way getting any of it. All she would be getting was some food to keep herself alive and more rods during her training for more dangerous acts. The teacher who was with us went home and got some clothes for the girl because even she believed in not encouraging this act by giving money. Instead, food or clothing would go directly to the girl. She congratulated us for at least trying to make a difference in the society and we thanked her for her support. We changed a few minds there when we saw a few people keep the money back into their wallets and stood with us, joining us in the questioning of the people there.
This story is being brought to you to spread awareness about little things that we encounter almost every day, but take no action on. We probably speak among ourselves, have some pity and move on. The teacher who brought the little girl some clothes and refused to give the father the money he was expecting is our unsung hero. The people who put their money back into their wallets are our unsung heroes. Make your voice heard, however soft it be, because you never know when more voices will join you and someday you’ll be heard. All that matters is taking the first step in doing what you feel is right and standing by it no matter what, without worrying about where it’ll go or whether it will!
Before we walked away from the show, I looked back at the little infant in the mother’s arms, wondering what life awaited this one. I prayed to Lord Krishna that at least her life be different from Durga’s! Tathastu.