Happy Independence Day

Putti is studying in 6th standard and stays in next apartment. Today is her birthday; I came to know only after coming form office. I went in to their apartment; few from other apartments were also there.

The cake is already cut. Putti is waiting for one more uncle from another apartment. He arrives from office. She runs to his apartment and looks for if he has any gifts in hand. He says he still has to go and bring a gift. He says it’s unfair that she has already cut the cake. She says the cake is big and she can cut it again. Also she reminds him that she is ready to wait. That means he has no other option but to go and come back with gift.

Meanwhile she comes back and goes in to her room. She has bought gift for all of us. She will not display them to us. May be she thought that we might ask for more or gifts of our choice. She gave me the gift at last when I was leaving. I had not bought any gift for her. But finally she decides to make peace with me. Next day she comes in to my apartment and looks in to each and everything. She asked lot of questions, time and again she reminded me I owed a gift. She is very clever and cute. Still I forget about the gift whenever I am outside, but she has not stopped coming and having a conversation with me each day morning.

Today is august 15th, as it’s a holiday I am still in my bed. Watchman’s daughter called me; to give my credit card bill. She is elder to Putti by two years. She has not joined any school so for. Her younger brother goes to school. Near my apartment there are lots of construction workers. Their children never study, as the families keep shifting places. As they have come here from villages, they do not have votes here. So when you don’t have vote in India, you may not exist at all in policy maker’s memories. I am reminded of ‘LES MISERABLES’ of Victor Hugo.

I got in to my car and started typing some blog. I usually type them when traveling. My driver Ravi was annoyed with a boy on the road. He is playing on the mud road, never caring for the car on its way. The boy is from construction worker’s colony, he is wearing a T-shirt which is soiled. It’s written “happy independence day” with tricolor below on that shirt. May be the boy wanted me to see it, that’s why he was there. The distance between our apartment and this colony is just few meters, but when I recall lives of Putti and these less fortunate, the gap is probably not just few meters.

With rapid growth of Bangalore, more construction workers will move in. So Bangalore will grow at the cost of education of their children. It’s time that education department wakes up and does something about this.

Finally I gave Putti a gift. It's a cardboard replica of Taplow Court building in UK. She is very happy.