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Parents Who Sell Their Children...

By Staff

No, there is no symbolism or metaphor behind the above headline. This article is about those parents who sell their children and make money out of it. This article is inspired by a true incident and is one of the stories of many abandoned childhoods in India. Discover the new aspects of relationships in the present India.

It was an overnight journey and the bus came to a halt at Dharmapuri, on the way to Bangalore. A couple got into the bus with three kids and a middle-aged man. The youngest among the kids is a baby girl of approximately two years old. Her face was as innocent as the cloudless sky in the deep sleep. The bus reached

Krishnapuri and suddenly the woman burst into tears. The middle-aged man took the baby girl from her hand and stuffed some notes into the husband's hand. The family got down from the bus leaving behind their youngest darling with the middle-aged man.

It was an overnight journey and the bus came to a halt at Dharmapuri, on the way to Bangalore. A couple got into the bus with three kids and a middle-aged man. The youngest among the kids is a baby girl of approximately two years old. Her face was as innocent as the cloudless sky in the deep sleep. The bus reached Krishnapuri and suddenly the woman burst into tears. The middle-aged man took the baby girl from her hand and stuffed some notes into the husband's hand. The family got down from the bus leaving behind their youngest darling with the middle-aged man.

Now, you can tell that it is all my imagination that I witnessed the sale of a child. Any way it as not my hallucination! The middle-aged man was moved by all the incidents and started explaining his situation himself or to the sleeping co-passenger. The couple are unemployed peasants from the rural area and unable to provide the food to their children on some days. A new hope came to them when a religious institution came and offered shelter for their youngest one in the orphanage. Not only that the parents and siblings of the child can avail a minor financial support from the institution, if they disown their blood and allow her to live a life in the orphanage or in the house of adopted parents.

The selling of children by their own parents is becoming more common in rural parts of India. Even when most parents found it difficult to let go of their children's hand, they had already convinced that selling their children to a family with better living conditions would provide them at least with food. Once the extreme poverty and unemployment push parents to the edge, they are forced to make decisions once believed unthinkable.

Most of the parents who sell their children are doomed to live a life of despair and anguish. Even though they are soothed with the financial support and a hope for the better future, they are tormented by some alarming incidents. Some of the sold out children are ill treated by the supposed to be new family. On the other hand some others run away from their new families with the call of blood.

There are some of the religious institutions and NGOs that work as mediators in this shocking sale. They often claim that they are providing service to the society. However as a common human being I've to ask this question. If they are capable to become mediators, why can't they try to provide the help without separating the baby from their parents? Parents are also responsible for the lives that they brought in. Unless this alarming business is plucked from the beginning, India will witness estranged family bondings and its effects very soon!

Story first published: Monday, December 15, 2008, 15:09 [IST]