A new garden has come up recently on S. V. Road, adjacent to Dahisar Fire Brigade Station. Developed on a slope, it is complete with lawns, a multipurpose space that can be used both as an amphitheatre as well as a skating floor and abundant greenery. Then there’s a children’s play area complete with slides and swings. The ground which once served as a public toilet breathing out filth, has now been successfully transformed into a lush green patch. Today being Sunday and the rains having taken a break, I offered to take my son to this newly developed garden that I had been admiring from outside. It being evening and that too a Sunday evening, the garden was quite crowded and noisier than usual. My son, Shantanu, was quite taken aback by the kind of children who were playing there. They were urchins from the nearby slums dirty with rags for their clothes, noses running, bare footed, some wearing clothes too big for their age with pinned shorts slipping down as the urchins held them with one hand and ran around. He hadn’t been to a garden where such children played or rather such children were never seen where Shantanu usually played. Needless to say, Shantanu skipped the children’s play zone and chose to stay away from lawns where the urchins enjoyed themselves. He suggested we climb upto the top of the slope hoping that it may be somewhat less crowded up there and it was indeed so.
There were fewer children, one or two groups of irritating teenagers, a few youngsters out to spend their leisure time and so there was enough space for us father and son duo to choose from. We effortlessly zeroed in on a place where we could be completely by ourselves. We were at a height of the terrace of old three-storeyed buildings that lined the S. V. Road and for a moment I thought I could touch the sky and pluck a fluffy cotton like cloud bud! Behind us was a huge garden wall and atleast half a dozen urchins peeped in the garden incessantly from their shanties that overlooked the place. My son couldn’t stop gazing at them for he had never seen a garden full of urchins!! I wondered whether I had done something foolish or how my son would evaluate my act. What would my wife say had she seen all this? Out of sheer curiosity I asked Shantanu whether he would like to come to the garden again. He said no. I told him how the garden had more space than any other gardens for skating but he was adamant. Forget Shantanu, I wondered whether I would honestly like my son to come to this garden again? - As a concerned father definitely not!!
But then why what’s wrong? Is sharing a public space with urchins, orphans or slum dwellers shameful? A sin of sorts? And then it’s a public space - they own it as much as I do. Don’t these people have right to recreation? Many schools are allergic to admitting children from lower economic sections of society especially from the labour class. And if it is not the school it’s the parents who become allergic to such broadminded schools who admit children without any bias. Isn’t education a fundamental right? Then how can it be denied to the majority populace? And then isn’t poverty a grim reality of India? Then why turn our backs or close our eyes and assure ourselves that all’s fine and everyone’s happy? Why tell Shantanu that India is all about burgers when in reality it is all about a humble ‘wadaPav’ and that it is actually lunch and dinner for many or make him believe that India travels day in and day out on two and fourwheelers when it actually travels in crowded trains, trams, buses and still better India is not about two wheelers and four wheelers butit’s about ‘padayatras’! It’s not tobe found in restaurants, cafes, bars and dining halls but on dhaba’s slurping up thick lassi’s and wiping out the butter moustache with a dirty sweat-smelling ‘gamcha’!!
I don’t want my son to share his space with an urchin because his father is probably a driver or labourer or a sewer or a hawker or a daily wage earner who does petty jobs and is at times unemployed. Probably because he gets drunk at times and gets into a brawl with neighbour’s or gets physical with his wife and children and uses filthy language. Probably because he borrows money quite often. Probably because his wife works as a domestic help. But then isn’t it commendable that such people choose hunger over theft, hard work over scams, honesty over diplomacy? And compare this to so called elites who train their children to break the queues to gain advantage or train them to be selfish and diplomatic with their closest friends over petty academic issues. Do I want my son to share space or befriend a rich tax evading stock broker’s son whose father is allegedly associated with scandals and the corrupt just because he mints money and is richly dressed and travels in air conditioned cars? Or with a corporates son whose father compromises on ethics and morals day in and day out to climb up the corporate ladder when he really is not required to do so!! And what about high society pedophiles, rapists, sadists, chronic alcoholics who indulge in drunken driving, kill innocents and get away with it without repentance? Do I want my son to take lessons and pick up values sharing space with children having these kinds of rich backgrounds?!!Should we let our child share space with a child whose father may be a tax evading and corrupt, low on morality or with an honest hard working self-respecting workers child whose parents are probably uneducated but moral and law abiding, poor but honest !! Many may argue that it would be very orthodox and cruel to associate an innocent child to the doings or misdoings of his parents and voluntarily nominate him to be his heir apparent of his parent’s qualities but then we forget these things while dealing with the less fortunate!!
I have made up my mind. I am decided on taking my son to the urchin garden to share space with them. Hopefully with the kind of value based education we Indians impart to our children, they will not be (or ideally should not be) impressed with the vicious tendencies but on the contrary will be able to impress the urchins with their moral and well founded character and at the same time learn to respect and accept the people around them the way they are!!
- Bhushan Sarmalkar (JAI)
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