It was 7:00 am in the morning and me and my parents were waiting for the train in the railway station , after few minutes our train arrived in the platform and we board it . I ran and sat in my seat and took a breath of relief ,opposite to my seat,sat a girl similar to my age her face was dirty and her hairs was uncombed, her dress was torn and dirty but she never wore any shoes or slippers . She also carried a huge sack that contained stinky items , our compartment was filled with a foul smell . The train started to move .
After few hours , a box fell down from her sack , i picked it up and gave her she gave me a broad smile and sat back in her position. I was getting boared so i thought maybe i can have a talk with that girl, I moved forward and asked her " Where is your destination ? "
" Sivakasi " she said .
Sivakasi but why does she want to go there. Sivakasi is a place in Tamil nadu [ India ] known for fireworks and match factories that produce 70% of the country's produce . By now i understood that she is a worker from a firecracker factory and the that sack contains all sorts of chemicals .
Frankly I asked her " So you are a worker from a firework factory "
" Yes , I am " she said
oh ! yes, my guess was right but how can she work over there with all sorts of chemicals making fireworks , she should be in school now not making fireworks in this age . In Sivakasi majority of the labours in fireworks factory are children . Child labour is common in Sivakasi .
" So you have any disease by working with those checmicals ? " I asked her
" yes, I do have and i am always ill and my doctor says that i even have chronic disease which is very dangerous to my health but my parents can't afford for my treatment but i can't leave my job too if i leave then my family will be out of our livelihood . So i have to work "
She was very freindly to me maybe she wanted to share her problems with someone .
" But how do you handle with those chemicals ? " I asked her.
" oh ! i handle it somehow my work is to make bombs , God ! many times i have injured myself badly and the checmicals to make bombs is the most dangerous even if a single molecule goes into the mouth it can cause your death . Like Fuel, Sodium , Sulphur , Charcole and many "
God its awful . Child labour is worst especially in fireworks .
She is one but in Sivakasi there are 450 fireworks and nearly 40,000 children working over there .
7 COMMENTS
Sanjana Dutta
April 6, 2015 - 11:56 Well doneVishnumayaa!!!!child labour is a burning topic nowadays......Everybody should be aware of that.....abbywookie
April 6, 2015 - 12:06 This makes me sad =( But still, a good one, vishnumayaa =)Vishnumayaa
April 6, 2015 - 12:19 Thank you Abby and Sanjana. :)Vishnumayaa
April 13, 2015 - 12:43 Thank you ! Natasha .Manahill Naik
April 22, 2015 - 20:40 really nice vishnu!! beautiful story :)Vishnumayaa
April 25, 2015 - 07:02 Thanks Manahil :)