As I sat to read this morning in my warm comfortable room, I heard the voice of a little child who was calling out loudly to sell something. Curious like always, I ran out to see who he was and what was he up to. Mom told me he comes every day to sell peanuts and other things with his father.
I went up to him, bought some salty chana, and asked him, "What are you doing here? Don't you have a school today?"
He looked at his father, who paused for a while and answered, "He has a holiday today."
I told the boy, "Today is no festival, why do you have a holiday?"
To this, his dad replied, "He goes to a government school, the teachers are not regular. Even I don't understand why he has a holiday today."
I looked at the boy and asked his name. For the first time he spoke, "Vikram"
My mom sees the boy daily with his father, and his father says he has a holiday today. I very well know what's happening here but I also don't find any reason to blame Vikram's father. It's a hard life for them.
The only important question that remains is what can we do to support children like Vikram?
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