Their reactions returning home to the slums and to their families were concerning as described in The UK's Telegraph publication By Barney Henderson in Mumbai Last Updated: 2:23PM GMT 01 Mar 2009
"Having flown in a plane, slept in a soft bed and used a clean and functioning bathroom for the first time in their lives at a five-star hotel, the kids say they have now realised what life is like on the other side of the coin and the reality of being back in the slum is hitting them hard."
"I don't want to live here in the slum anymore," Rubina said, wearing the dirt stained ball gown that she has not wanted to take off since Oscars night. "I don't want to sleep on the floor anymore. I want a proper bed and live where the air does not smell of poo. I have seen what it is like in America. Here, there is garbage everywhere, people get angry, swear and shout. I have realised how bad life is here. I just want to get out."
Social workers have called for the children to be placed in care and state that they need to be given protection – either from Danny Boyle and the film production company or the Indian authorities.
"I cannot believe these kids have just been left like this after being taken to Hollywood. It is bound to affect them psychologically," said social worker Sanjay Bhatia, who works in the slum.
India's Women and Child Development Minister Renuka Chowdhary is "appalled" at the beating that Azhar took at the hands of his father on Friday. Azhar was thrashed for saying he wanted to sleep rather than talk to a journalist who had offered money to his father.
- - I wondered as a child and also as an adult if people who are poor are made to feel worse when they obtain a point of comparison---does one miss what one does not know? or experience?
- -does not a child within the Indian family unit find comfort,like all children, from their shared meals, from the banter of neighbors and friends, from the love of their parents?
- -has modern life equiped with global communications, TV, radios brought the harshness of these comparisons into a more acute focus?
Thank you for this important article. When I saw the children on the Red Carpet I began to think about their return to the slums. I just knew...and now to see the photos, the proof, it is so heartbreaking.
ReplyDeleteCatherine
You're quite right to highlight this issue. The long-term effects are just starting now. Many thanks.
ReplyDeleteGreetings from London.
I've heard a bit of news about this story. There was an UK article that said that the Indian Gov't was considering (or was it planning?) on providing houses for the children and their families. Have you heard this?
ReplyDeleteI cannot imagine how bizarre it was to travel to California and back. And yes, I cannot help but think that being offered a contrast to one's life (whether it through the media or direct experience) leads one to judge that life in a different way. BTW, I'm reading White Tiger right now and it touches on some of these issues -- in an indirect, fictional way of course.
P.S. I haven't forgotten your kind award . . .
Thanks for commenting about this issue which breaks my heart,save for those attempting to change things for these little ones, also I hope that the slums themselves have gained some recognition within the world and perhaps,just perhaps, someone will reach out and change that too! One can hope!
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