She immediately caught my attention. I looked at her, she didn’t look like the
normal kids I saw day in and day out.
It was the usual crowded train that I took back
home. Somehow I managed to get a place. She sat exactly opposite me. When I was just trying to settle down, she
smiled at me and I smiled back.
She looked a little different, very innocent – those big
eyes were searching for someone. A lady
sat towards the end of the seat at the other corner. I put two and two together
and quickly arrived at the conclusion that she could be her mother. I happened
to look at her, she smiled back. She gazed
at her mother and was sort of happy. Everytime, the train halted at the
station, she looked for her mother. Why was the little one scared? Was she
scared that her mother would just leave her and go? Not sure.
Then came a vendor selling her wares with a lot many
toys. One of it was a caged parrot. Kids
were raising hue and cry and the mothers had to buy it for them. This little
girl was looking the toy, touching it and looking at her mother. She desperately
wanted to hold one in her hand. I wanted to buy the toy badly for the girl, but
was unsure as to how her mother would take it, lest she take offence.
Just then a eunach entered the compartment. The girl went
into a shrill and started crying. The eunach came near and just patted her, but
she was so flustered even with the touch.
There were women standing all over and she was comfortable
with the happenings around but the moment
the eunach entered, she was so uneasy. A
shrill went down my spine and I started wondering what could be so wrong with
this. We hear a lot of stories about
child abuse and child molesting. The train arrived at my place of destination
and I had to get down. However, it left me thinking about the little girl and I
prayed for her safety. That’s all I could do at that point in time and got
down.
The train left the station, but I could not forget the
scared look in her eyes. We are not sure how many girls and boys get
molested. The numbers are scary, the
percentage increasing.
It is our duty to stop such acts that bring disregard and
disrespect to our society. Take the
first step NOW!
Love
Rekha
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