Railway Children of India


While sorting through my old music files, I came across Altaf Raja's songs. Before I pressed Shift-Delete, it brought a smile to my face on recalling that a journey in any Indian train would necessarily include a kid beggar coming into the compartment and blaring 'Tum To There Pardesi' (You are a stranger). The song jars and more so when sung off-pitch and as a shriek as the kid-beggars used to do.
Today morning, sitting at my desk, I was just surfing through the web at lunch time and came across the same issue handled at depth by Amit Verma - INDIA UNCUT. Some more web resources have tackled the plight of this forgotten children. CSMonitor tackles the issue of homeless children in India and how they survive. Children starting at age 3 are residents at the Mumbia Central Train Station in Bombay. The train station is a type of protection from the streets, hunger and problems at home. This article gives real numbers of children effected by poverty looking for relief or a way out.

It is sad that in our rush to become the next global superpower, we have a entire 'Railway Children Race' which the 'economic revolution' has bypassed.

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