Saturday, July 28, 2012

Nipped before they bloomed....

It is about two months since baby Mahi,trapped in a bore well near her house breathed her last.Media as expected slashed out at the delayed response by the police and civic authorities which is not condoned by us either.The child's parents must have experienced hell on earth, totally traumatised and shattered by the irreparable loss and the sudden jolt of ill-fated events.While our deepest sympathies go with them,there is also,very unfortunately a sense of seething anger against them.For,while the pit was very much near their residence,was dug by their landlord,had nothing to do with the civic authorities for them to come and close it in time(whether they will cover it in time even if they knew it earlier is a much debatable question altogether but my inner conscience says they will!),was it not their very very basic responsibility to ensure it is covered even with a concrete slab? Now is any amount of lamenting going to bring back the innocent little child,who deserved to live with us,but for the callousness of some people including her parents?
Contrarily the school which should assumably be a haven to children especially the naive,threw caution and conscience to the wind in the case of Sruthi who had a gory death after she fell from the floor of her school bus and was crushed under its wheels.It was only a matter of a few seconds before she was to get down and even waved at her mother ironically as though a good bye... Her father who ferried school children for a living in his autorickshaw,made sure he dropped all of them back home safely even as he gripped in a state of shock and stillness on hearing the fatal end of his beloved daughter.... paradoxical really. According to some reports,several representations were made to the school management earlier about the holes on the floor of the ill-fated bus but the authorities concerned simply washed their hands off the issue,with a devil-may-care attitude saying that the bus was hired on contract.Cruel.Reckless. The High court of Madras which had suo moto taken note of the incident directed the State Government to frame the draft rules within two weeks as the Tamil Nadu Motor Vehicles Rules had no provision with regard to maintenance, fitness and conditions for plying school buses. About the FC issued,the less said the better.
“Does it take much to prevent such incidents?” the Supreme Court asked in November 2009 directing the State governments to ensure that all abandoned borewells and tubewells were capped. Well we have had precedents and directions earlier....... These innocent children will haunt our thoughts for long and their innocent faces will ever remain etched in our memory.... Rest in peace Children.You are in safer hands. If you happen to visit us again here is assuring you that WE WILL KEEP YOU AND PROTECT YOU. The following encomium by my friend Amutha sums it all. குழந்தைகள் துர்மரணம் அடைய நேரிடும் பொழுது அவர்கள் மெள்ன விழிகள் கேட்கும் கடைசி கேள்வி உங்களையும் என்னையும் சமுதாயத்தையும் நோக்கியதாகத்தான் இருக்கிறது அது சொல்கிறது ஏன் ஏன் என்னைய ..?? நா என்ன தப்பு பண்ணினேன் அம்மு For the benefit of those who cannot read Thamizh,the gist of it is WHY ME? a question pitted against us...