WHO STOLE OUR CHILDHOOD?
We are little children,
who universally stand for
Skipping, playing shouting
and merrymaking.
But, alas! We are forced
to others’ bread baking,
Or work for the devils
in starvation and torture!
We too, like yours, have
thirsts to study and be officers
But, books, copies and
we belong to different quarters!
Our minds still crave to
jump, run, play and have fun
But, we, the fateless
toilers, have a different destination!
Ah! Since the day we
started to toddle and walk,
For you, the heartless,
we were pushed to work.
Ah! Peace and happiness
were like aliens for us,
And slavery in childhood
was an irretrievable loss!
Lo! We, the little, innocent
children
To the drains of child
labour are blindly thrown!
We place our light
little hands heavy works on,
Ah! We are the fleshy
grinders from morn till dawn!
We sweep rooms, wash tables,
clothes and dishes
Otherwise we cannot
mitigate our gnawing hunger!
Oh! In the quarters,
buildings and domes of bosses
Our untold woes are
worse than the deathly danger!
May it be mills, stores,
factories or warehouses,
May it be industries, building
sites or farmlands,
May it be breaking
stones or gigging ditches,
Everywhere it’s you who
abuse our little hands!
Alas! For our Rights none
utters a protest or raises concern
So that we may see our
dreams bloom in our life’s garden.
What will feel, do
honestly tell, if you find, o the sanest men
In our wretched places your
pampered, darling little children?
Copyright:
Dr. Shankar D Mishra, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India 26.03.2023
N.B. – The above poem is the English
version of an original Odia poem “AAMA PILAA BELA KIE NELAA” composed by Dr. Basant Kishore Sahoo, Kusupur, Cuttack.
Image credit: Smt. Binapani Sahoo
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