Burden of abuse of tiny shoulders

India is celebrating her 63rd year as a republic. The expectedly beautiful parade unfolding in Rajghat has many of us gawking with awe at the amazing displays from states ranging across the perimeters of the country. Delhi became a fortress for the first few hours from dawn to ensure that this spectacular display of culture and heritage proceeded with no hurdles. The tricolor is seen fluttering with pride high atop the usual and mundane sight of sky scrapers. Republic day truly is a photographer’s delight!

          But then the day is also an occasion for reflect and reason about the various things happening in the country. When I switched on the television this morning, the first piece of news that greeted me was this “INDIA- REPUBLIC OF THE HUNGRY” with several clippings of malnourished children flashing by. And then came the usual talks of politics, politicians, corruption so on and so forth.  Disturbing as it was, I just pushed aside these disconcerting scenes and went about getting ready for a day out. After an amazing day out, I came back only to find more grave news. “Delhi: 2-yr old bashed battles for life at AIIMS”. 

       

Now this was quite a shocker and not the usual kind of spiced up crap that one could well live without knowing. The very highly spoken of fortress of Delhi stood shell shocked at the appalling condition of this little baby, Falak. She was brought by a teenage girl, Mahi Gupta (around 15 years of age) who also claims to be the baby’s mother. The baby was brought to AIIMS in an unconscious state. The little one, in her life span of 2 years so far has suffered more than one can imagine. The baby has bilateral fractures in both arms, a smashed skull, cheeks that have been branded with marks made with hot iron and human bite marks all over her body. The doctors say that few parts of her flesh were even bitten off. They even suspect sexual abuse which can be ascertained by a gynae only after she has recovered.  If this wasn’t enough, the child has suffered two cardiac arrests. She is on ventilator support. 

 

  

 Falak is now literally battling for life in AIIMS in the neurosurgery ICU. Mahi, the girl who brought her to the renowned hospital on 18th of January claims that the baby fell of the bed hence the injuries. Obviously the lines of evidence on the baby’s form go completely against this rather vague statement. The child has suffered intense brain damage and keeps slipping in and out of consciousness. Her chances of survival are 50-50 and even if she survives she will have to face severe neurological problems. As for her SO CALLED PARENTS, let’s not even go there. For a person who loves babies, this is something that ignites the flame of anger to the max level. Parents, it seems! What sort of parents are they? Irrespective of the shame of teenage pregnancy, one can’t just pummel babies. The poor little things wouldn’t have opened their eyes completely to the world, by then horrendous disgraces to the institution called parenting begin scripting the end of their chapters.

How nice it is to be with children, the purest form of innocence, to see their tiny little fingers thrust out to grasp in every aspect of the world around them, to see their beautiful forms running around the place or making the weirdest yet most beautiful sounds on earth! These angels, these bundles of joy are such delights to see and even more pleasurable to hold in one arms. Such innocent lives with their pure smile, expressive eyes, non-hideous behaviour and sweet little actions are what make us understand and appreciate the creation of new life by nature. It’s just sad when you come across instances where those little fingers are stained with blood, where their eyes are so bruised that they can hardly open their lids, where their innocence and purity makes them vulnerable to abuse in a way that shuts them up forever!  Its heart breaking to see pictures of children, especially babies lying on hospital beds with million tubes and wires and hospital equipment hanging around them, when they actually can be at home in the comfort of their mothers’ bodies surrounded by dolls and all the love and affection in the world. Seeing their lives scarred like this is gut- wrenching for even the most patthar dil insaan on the planet! What’s more is that these toddlers are hardly capable of expressing pain in any other way than screams and tears and they more often than not end up being silent sufferers of whatever torture is meted out to them. It’s just sad that these children are being shut out from life even before they open its doors fully. Children are like wet cement, whatever falls on them makes an impression said Dr.Haim Ginnot. But judging the way Falak is doing, one wonders if Falak will survive to even think about that statement in her scenario.

Dear Reader,

I am not writing this blog with a view to spoil anyone’s day with such grave news or put anyone off or for the sake of it. This blog post is my tribute to all those Falaks out there who suffer in silence, my tribute to all those children whose sufferance is unimaginable but still continue pushing through the traumatic wired fences of abuse. This post is also a strong word of condemning to all those heartless pieces of stone who can actually do such things to the most chaste forms of man. This post is also my prayer for Falak and all those babies who have just had the misfortune to be born in the wrong place!