Outside Y-block Gourmet, a young boy no more than five years old, knocked at my window screen. He was holding up a handful of piano ball-point pens. He looked right into my eyes and said in a monotonous tone, ‘Baji leylo na, baji bhook lagi hai. Baji leylo pen.’ I shook my head and his words picked up pace, ‘Baji leylo, Baji Allah Makkay Madinay ka Hajj kraye ga Baji leylo’. I tried keeping a passive face and looked away. He whimpered for a while and then left. I turned to see him as he leaped on another car with the same crammed phrases. But I hung on every word he said, a young boy driven out of poverty, forced by his elders, finally got hold of the jargon used by the professionals in begging industry and here he is, all equipped to beg for alms in the concrete jungle-Lahore.
It triggered yet another memory of a boy, who tapped at our car’s window when I was eleven. He was the same age as mine. He had a couple of coloring books in his hand. He opened up a book, showing us all the pictures waiting to be colored. My mother rolled down the window and extended 20 rupees to him. He said, ’Aunty book ki price 40 Rupees hai’. My mother amazed by his way of speaking, asked him if he went to school? He said yes indeed he attends the school in the morning and sells these books in the evening. My mother offered him some money to which he sternly replied, ‘nai Aunty aisay nai leyta mey, maang nai raha, bech raha hun.” I was heavily disturbed by his words. It was the first time I felt that outside my happy cocoon, down the vanilla streets, there are children who have bigger worries than having a Birthday party at McDonalds.
#downthevanillastreets is an effort to develop a think tank of students across the institutes, to identify the root cause of the dilemma of street children and to draft a proposal with recommendations and corrective actions. Many of you might believe that it’s a much-talked-about issue, what’s the whole point of this initiative. I believe, we, being an educated class with young visionaries and a bubbling intellectual capital, have a responsibility towards the underprivileged members of the society. This initiative will create ripples across the intellectual pool of this country, encouraging them to come up with solutions to our social problems. It’s an attempt to cast away the insensitivity which has seeped into us due to the commonplace sight of these street children. Please take away a minute or two from your oh-too-busy schedules and make these posts as interactive as you can, share your standpoints by commenting below, all of your valuable contributions will lead to a better devised solution.
I have received different perspectives on this issue and I'm highly grateful to the ones who have shown interest.
Hira Hameed's Contribution
I want to redirect your attention to the core purpose-proposing solutions. Many of you expressed your feelings, stressing that something needs to be done. I have heard and read emotional accounts by a lot of you, some highlighted this aggravated problem by mentioning drugs and physical abuse. Ayesha suggested a solution in the form of development of education facilities but one may point out that does the provision of education addresses the problem? As previously mentioned we will be focusing on the root cause, I would appreciate if discussion now converges to heart of the problem. The solutions can be classified into curative treatments or preventive measures. To explore the curative part of the solution, we will be visiting a NGO working for the rights of street children soon. The account of the visit will be published on the blog as well. For now keep sending in your views and don't forget to include possible solutions. Remember, every step counts!
