gearboxman

I've just been watching a documentary on BBC4 tonight with the above title.
Shot amongst the children of prostitutes and drug users of Calcutta.
This has to be the saddest piece of Journalism I have ever seen.
These beautiful, intelligent, articulate, streetwise kids, who, all under the age of 11, were documented by this photographic journalist tonight, who has attempted to educate/inspire/rescue these children from a fate they seem resigned to, in spite of their obvious reluctance to become whores/drug addicts.
For those that didn't watch this, imagine a pretty 11 year old (your daughter/sister/niece/granddaughter) talking candidly about being sold by her father into prostitution.
The journalist tonight is attempting to rescue as many kids as possible.
She has to to get through Indian red-tape.
"Is this child HIV positive?" the lady is asked. "Oh, I expect so" she repies.
There are boarding schools that offer a proper upbringing and education, but, one criterior of admittance is that the parents must never have been convicted of a criminal offence...
The swear filter on here does not even get close to what some of the mothers of these kids were calling their offspring to their faces, on this programme.
Grandparents make feeble attempts to get these children admitted to boarding schools, to try and break the cycle, but cannot break the red-tape, or afford the bribes necessary to do so.
What made it all the sadder, was that the children shown tonight were really quite resigned to their fate.
To put it into perspective:
Think back to your childhood, now imagine that Mum sells herself to all and sundry.
If you're a boy, you will be sent out stealing at an early age, then when you become less useful, thrown out on the street.
If you are a girl, you will be a 4.00am to midnight slave, until you have breasts. Then you join "the line".
"Dad" spends his life smoking hash, and if Mum isn't looking, will sell you to the highest bidder, whether you have breasts or not...
What makes this all the sadder, is that this tragedy is not the result of a natural catastrophe, but of sheer poverty induced inhumanity!
Ever felt helpless?

Carlsworth

ah,....but what ya gonna do......

Carlsworth

right,,....


but like i said,..what ya gonna do,....

it is such a damn shame, but there isnt much in todays society that when you watch it on tele, you remember in a week or so,...talk about it at work the next day, or at the pub when you see someone from where you used to work etc,...but not many people do anything about it,...

when i spent 2 years in africa building huts for the locals.....



well, ok,..i havent,...but i d like to,....but in reality im never going to,...or if it came to it, do i really want to risk going out there incase i get murdered in a bar for being white,..etc......

dont get me wrong, it is terrible,....however,...its nowt to do worth us, and 99% of people have the same view as me,....its bad, but its not here,.....


arl

ryan_belfast

Very good point.

Anonymous

Terrible stuff Bernie, there really are some shitholes in the world and i thank fuck that i was born in the uk instead, we might slag this country off and how its run etc, but its a lot better than most places!

Carlsworth

and a lot shitter than other places......

ryan_belfast

Chipperx2

Why not leave then, amazes me how many people take the piss and ridicule this country, its insulting to people who work in the certain service to keep this country a decent place to live. Ok so its not the greatest, but were in the top 99%

Mr S1

iTrader: (2)

I read a book about the same thing a few years back, about girls in Asia who are dying of ful blown AIDS by the time they're 15, being raped by policeman................one policeman knew he had AIDS, knew the girl was clear so raped her just to give it to her. She died at 18.

The saddest book I ever read and I lent it to someone and never got it back.

PGT

seen this myself in back streets of thailand. parents walking round looking for rich white tourists to have sex with thier offspring. both kids and parents see the thing as a job and to an extent they become ambivilent about thier fate. i guess if these kids are born into this then it is not as sad from thier own perspective as it is from ours.

the saddest part is watching tourists taking up the offer and not being able to do anything about it. hope the gary glitter thing has an impact but doubt it cos the in many of these places the tourist industry is the only source of foreign currency and if they stopped this it would reduce tourist revenue. also many of the punters are local in any case and i suppose this means that the whole thing is endemic within thier own culture.

a supplier of ours from pakistan told me that where he comes from when a mans wife is either pregnant or 'past her best' it would be the fathers prerogative to start on the daughter and there would be no social stigma attached to this.

the upshot of all this is that us 'rich white people' can 'afford' to have morals

Carlsworth

leave,..like its that easy,....if i could i would,...and have been attempting to get everything sorted to do so,.....hopefully not too long now....

also,.....insulting to people that work in the servies??? i have friends that work in all different areas of the "services" and the majority bitch and moan about it,.....its a job to 99% of people, a job with prospects,,....but thats all

its in YOUR opinion that it is insulting.... same as IN MY OPINION there are better places to live, so, if its ok, id like to express my right to free speech......you know,...a right that your fighting to protect,....