The Sinful Sin

Child labor is one of the major concerns for the entire world. Every country is making their effort or law to stop this so as to give the children of world their right to play, right to learn and right to live as other children do. Every body believes in this. If not everyone then atleast all educated people know that appreciating child labor is a sin not only to the society but to the God even. What if someone unknowingly making this sin!

I did that.

Being a bachelor, I need a housemaid to take care of my house. So, wherever I stay, I try arranging for that. But this time, it was not so easy task. Raipur is a city which is growing very fast, so as the expectation of people. You can find God easily here, but finding a housemaid is like seeing bamboo flower.

I stay here in a separate portion of a duplex house whose duplicate keys remains with the landlord staying downstairs. Being a good landlord, he took the responsibility of taking care of my flat or hiring a maid. After all their efforts they hired a maid who was doing household works at my house. Though it took me around 15 days to see who is working, since, by the time she comes in the morning, I leave for job. She was a middle aged lady who often remains ill. So after a couple of months, she left the job.

Now my landlord said that he will take care of the maid issue and that I should not be worry about this. And seriously he took care of the issue of finding a new maid. He appointed a new maid. This time, I was occupied with loads of work that I could not be able to see who the new maid is. But the fact was, whoever was working in my house, my house was looking much cleaner than ever.

Then a slothful Sunday came after about a month. I was not having any important work and I was staying in my house, lazily. At around 11 in the morning, while I was finishing my 3rd cup of tea, I got a knock over my door. Lazily I opened the door and a 9 - 10 year old girl came in. I asked if I can help her. She said, she is maid here and need to clean the house.

Whhaattt!

I was astonished of the situation. I was speechless. I never have appreciated child labor. Then how can I allow a little kid to work as a maid in my house! She entered inside my house, went to the kitchen and started washing dirty utensils. I was just speechless. I don’t know what to do. How to stop her of doing these works. I just went downstairs where my landlord was living. I asked him if he have appointed this little kid for doing household works. He said, see being a kid, she would not complain even if you are telling her to wash your bed cover or curtains. And he started laughing in jest and said, sir its better to have a mum kid than an old whore.

Shit.

I was so upset of this and said that this is her last day in my house for the work as my cognizance does not govern to let her work. And I came to my flat.

She was still working there.

I dig my head in the sand like ostrich and let her work in the house. I think this was the best thing I could do at that point of time.

After finishing her work, she went downstairs to finish her works at landlord place. And just in 15 min, she came to me again and said, “Bhaiya mere kaam me kya kami hai. Kya tumhe mera kaam pasand nahi aaya. Mai yaha kaam kyo nahi kar sakti?” (Is there any fault in my work? Did you not like my work? Why I can’t work here?) And she started crying.

Oh, what to say little lady. You are too good in your work. I really like your cleanliness and the way you work. Perhaps you need some money also. But you are too little to work. I think you need to live your childhood, rather then growing up early.

I was not having any word to tell her. I was just finding words to frame and tell her the reason. With a very heavy heart, I gave here money and said, “See I am staying alone here, and I don’t have more work to do. So I really don’t need any maid. And if you promise me to study, I will pay your school fee every month till your high school”.

She laughed and said, “Bhaiya hum kaha padhege. Aap paise denge to mera baap daru pee jayega aur mujhe phir kisi aur ke ghar me kaam karne ko bhej dega.” (What would I read? If you pay me money for school, my father will take that and will use that for his alcohol habit and will again send me to work somewhere else.). She left saying this with a very heavy heart.

Huh.
I think the problem is not as simple as it seems to be. I don’t know my this act of stopping child labor will help the children of the world or will deepen their problem. I even don’t know if that girl (I didn’t even asked her name) will ever go to school or will spend her life going house to house, spoiling her childhood.

But after telling her not to come from tomorrow, I was having very mixed type of feelings. Means, I was having a feeling that I did my work towards the society by stopping child labor and at the same time was not be able to figure out her future.

But I had avoided a sin which unknowingly I was committing. Atleast I think so...