"The Children Are A Nation's Future"

There is a maid servant working in our house. Once she was not well. So she sent her 11-year old daughter for work. After finishing the work in two houses, she came to our house. My mother asked her the reason. She told everything. She also told that she had to miss her school for money and that she missed her important class. After hearing this, I felt sad. As she was washing the utensils, something pricked her hand and it began to bleed. I put cotton and Dettol on the wound. My mother told her to go home. Then my mother finished the work.

There is another maid in our house. She is poor. She also has three children. Once she came with one of her daughters who was only seven years old. With a sad face, she said that she doesn't go to school. I felt very sad. She told me that she would like to go to school but they did not have that much money. My mother was also listening to her story. She also felt sad. She called our maid and asked her the reason. She also told that they didn't have enough money for education. Then I told her about the corporation school where education is free. Then she said, "What about the books?". Then, my mother said that she would give the books. My mother's friend's son was now bid and he had the old books. My mother brought those books and gave them to our maid. And now her daughter is going to a corporation school.

After watching these two incidents that night I was thinking about it. I was thinking that all over India, there are many children who are poor and who cannot go to school because of poverty. They must be having a dream of studying and doing something for the family and our nation. Some of them have to work for the whole day. From the morning till the evening they have to work. Some even have to work in hotels or in fire-crackers factories which is very dangerous for their health. They have no freedom whatsoever. Now the government has said that there should not be child labour. But there still is. Children have a right to education and not to work and I also agree with it.

By Neha Sunil Parkhi, Class VII , Dr. Kalmadi Shamrao High School, Pune.