Avid cricket fans and even those who are not were awake, praying, craving for India's victory, waiting for the moment when captain Dhoni hit the ball that flew up in the air as he followed it with the steely determination in his eyes. I must confess after witnessing history being made, I respected the whole Indian team for our victory. Twenty-eight years is a long time and at last we can hold our heads high and be overwhelmed with joy that we have done it.
The events after the match were even more glorious with the government, ICC, State governments and many others announcing prizes worth crores for the well-deserving Indian team. I am sure our captain Dhoni has made Ranchi — his birthplace — proud. It seems like even the railway station will be re-named in his honour. This, dear people, is one side of the story and the other side is not so glossy indeed.
The darker side
One day, I was skimming through the newspaper and I came across an article about the kids working in mines in Jharkhand. It said that a large number of children working in this scary place are aged below 14. Many girls are even subject to sexual harassment and they frequent nursing homes for abortions. Fatalities are a common business in this ‘rat-hole'. Poverty is the reason why these children are made to work here for a living.
Is this what our country has become? This is a typical case of economic inequality where one section enjoys everything and the other is deprived of even the basic necessities. How many of these children know that we have won the World Cup? The more important question is have they ever been to school?
Wake-up India! Who knows maybe there are budding sportsmen or scientists, who are forced to toil in these insecure mines. Maybe Captainji would sometime realise that in the state where he grew up, children are subjected to such cruelties. We should help these children to come up in life. When there is not a single child subjected to child labour, only then can we proudly say that we are real champions.
Hameem S., II B.com, J.B.A.S College for Women,Teynampet..
