Are WE promoting Child Labour?

 

How many times have we spoken about Child Labour, how many times have we pitied a child begging, How many times have we complained about Organized Begging, And How many times  have we given money to those child beggars. Giving children those loose bucks could be the most destructive things you can do to them. It’s not generous!! In fact, it’s most harmful possible. The reason to not give money to child beggars is much deeper.

  Organized begging is one of the most visible forms of human trafficking and is largely financed and enabled by good hearted people who just want to help. Roughly 60,000 children disappear each year according to official statistics. The lost children do not get help to unite with their families but are forced to work as beggars. Many of the street children who have run away from home have done so because they were beaten or sexually abused. Tragically, their homelessness can lead to further abuse through exploitative child labour and prostitution. The common jobs for these children are collecting of plastic and waste, street vending, begging, prostitution & domestic labour. If the children are too old to beg or are not any good, they are put forward to do other jobs.

These children aren't allowed to keep their earnings, are often starved so that they look gaunt and cry. And since disabled child beggars get more money they are hurt and amputated. To prevent children from running away, traffickers often keep the kids addicted to opium or drugs.

  Now, how do we know if a child beggar or worker is a victim of organized trafficking? The answer is- Actually, we do not need to know; giving money or buying stuff from children is always a bad idea. Doing that is as good as promoting Child Labour.

So people, next time you pity some kid begging and you decide to pay or you see a child selling something and you want to buy it with a good intention to HELP. For God’s Sake!! You are not helping, you are increasing the chances of more children disappearing, and you are increasing the chances of another lost kid not finding his /her family. OK, and you think if it is a good bargain and you want to make the purchase, think again. A child’s future? Not a Good Bargain at all.

  

  Again, I know looking at children straight in the eye and walking past is difficult. Not giving them money or not purchasing from them doesn't mean we turn our backs on them. You can always offer them food & water, these children are often hungry, thirsty and sick; offer medical help if possible. If you give them food or water, make sure it is not sealed, always open the packs before you hand it over so that it cannot be re-cashed or resold. Look for better ways to be kind to them. Be generous, but play your part in stopping Child Labour…. Make a Difference!

Conversations At Work..!!

What’s your take on casual conversation at workplace? Do you encourage it? Do you participate in it? Or, do you choose not to involve yourself in idle talk?

I had no plans to write this until a Chick from Corporate Communication walked up to me and asked for an article “Anything from the Past” .Because my resume said “Writing” in the hobbies section.
I was like what! I am not a writer and my work had been mainly intellectual or fiction rather than “People-based”

Well, coming to the topic.. I am writing this because I am the most Coward in making conversations, No matter how much Friendly the Environment is.
Indeed, some might think that spending time talking to people about this and that, serves little purpose but to waste time. I think that having conversations, even of the most casual kind with the people you work with is an imperative.
Having said all that, I think it important to say, that casual conversations can go from being constructive and helpful to divisive and destructive if you’re not careful. And, that’s when they get in the way of building healthy productive relationships and workplaces.

There are a few things to consider when it comes to engaging in casual conversations at work:
Keeping conversations friendly and professional

This means that, generally, people do not need, or even want, to know all of the intimate details of your life. Seek balanced two-way conversations that give each participant the opportunity to take part. Providing too much information (as in, Whoa…too much information!) could be embarrassing and the very thing that will have people avoiding you rather than seeking you out.
Knowing when the conversation is over and move on
Conversations that outlive their usefulness can, and do, get in the way of getting the work done. Spending inordinate amounts of time leaning on door frames or hanging over cubicle walls talking about whatever comes to mind is not the idea at all. Keep your exchanges short yet friendly and I suspect that everyone will appreciate it.
Resisting, at all costs, any temptation to participate in idle gossip or rumour mongering.
When rumour, innuendo and other negative lines of conversation are engaged in, bad feeling and damaged relationships are bound to follow. When those times come up where we know we really need to have a heart to heart with another person, we stutter, stammer, stall, or skip the conversation altogether, hoping it will just go away. And surprise, surprise, it doesn't.

P. S.: In spite of knowing all of the above, I still remain a coward to pick up a conversation with anyone. I am still a trembler. But you all don’t have to be one.

http://mypercept.in/p2p/2015/jan/percept_o_speak.html

Vampires, Humans and Love…

 

 

It was a dark night, the wind howled and an owl hooted as she set out to keep her promise ‘A promise that we will always be best friends, never fall apart’

I wasn’t sure she would come, our promises no longer made sense as she was with her Bloodsucker Boyfriend again, “Will she really cross our treaty line, to see me? The treaty was not for human beings, but as now she was a Vampire’s girlfriend…”

I tried not to think but there was nothing more I could do lying on a cot with most of my bones broken. I could see her every time until she was with any of the Bloodsuckers. My gift to see people I think off, was a Bane sometimes. I had seen her coming out of the house but her image got blur as she moved toward her truck, And it was dark now; totally blank as I was now All I could do is imagine what was going on till I could see her again.

It was very frustrating to not see her. Now with nearly all my bones broken I could only lie on my cot and wait, wait to see the image of her in my mind. I wish I could run at her side to see her “Will Jasper allow her to come see me?” “Don’t think!” I told myself. I wanted to sleep. My eyelids were heavy, they were about to drop but then appeared in my mind a blur image of Rose again. She was waving someone across the treaty line ‘I could not see’ from her truck. As she was speeding through the familiar lanes, away from that someone other than Jasper, her image got clear. He did allow Rose to come.’ “Jasper understands relationships better than you’’ Her words ringed in my ears Louder, like a reminder. I could also now hear the rising roar of her truck. The loudest roar the engine cut off.

It was silent for a second. I pretended to be sleeping. She came in my room without bothering to knock. She came closer and started speaking as if she knew I wasn’t sleeping. Her voice was heavy when she spoke –“How could you even think that I won’t come?” “You had been my best friend & still are, will always be… I know that for you I was always more than a friend… but why don’t you understand, for me it was always Jasper & not you Jake!!” she was sobbing now, “I Love him Jake, I cannot live without him”

I turned my head to look out of the window, like I did not care…

Then she fell on her knees near the cot to hold my hand “neither I could live without you” she said. Trying to control her sobs, she began again “You will always be my best friend, the best buddy. Friends have a special space in heart” “You will always own the best place in my heart…” “I Love you” she said after a few more sobs. “Jasper is my life…” I tried to grip my hand tighter to hers as it was sliding. She slightly kissed my forehead & I felt better than anytime even with the pain of my broken bones.

“You will always be my Best-man” were the last words she said as she left the room open behind her…