Adil Najam
Today, November 20, is Universal Children Day. I wanted to post this picture to commemorate the day because it depicts childhood as childhood should be, not as it often becomes.
The original caption tells us that the old man is telling stories to his grandchildren and that this was taken near Sumandri in the Punjab. The expression on the children’s face is priceless (click on picture to see higher resolution). Even though we cannot see the grandfather’s face, it is clear that he is enjoying his time with his grandchildren as much as they are with him.
This picture is another by Maxloxton, one of the many wonderful young photographers whose works can be found on Flickr.Com. His work has been featured on ATP earlier too in a post titled Badshah-i-Jahan.
It would be unfair, however, if we totally ignored today what childhood really looks like for too many Pakistani children. I wanted, therefore, to repost the very heart-moving video and song based on Ibn-e-Insha’s wonderful poem, ‘yeh bacha kis ka bacha hai’, that was first sent to us by Roshan Malik. Let me urge people to read the entire post we had done on this video and the theme of child labor; also see Bilal Zuberi’s earlier post on the brick kiln workers. Enjoy. And even if you do not, please think and ponder on what this video tells us.
Note: This post was originally published at ATP on Universal Children’s Day, 2006.
Sporting goods company Nike has announced that theu are stopping orders of hand-stitched soccer balls from Pakistan over labour concerns.
“The company said the decision follows the supplier’s failure to correct significant labour compliance violations.
Nike said soccer teams and leagues sponsored by Nike will not be affected by the decision. The company, however, continues to source apparel in Pakistan.”
GEO showed a brilliant documentary on street children and what they face on Universal Children’s Day. I think it says a lot about the plight of many children in our country.
I am inspired by this story which is also relevent.
Indian boy wins world peace prize http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6164134.stm
CRUELITY TO CHILDREN MUST STOP. FULL STOP.
IS THE SLOGAN OF A UK CHARITY,
CHILDREN LOSE THEIR GOLDEN YEARS DUE TO OPPRESSION, WARS, ABUSE AND MALNURITIONMENT AND LACK OF EDUCATION.
PROTECT CHILD ,PROTECT THE WORLD
The video is quite moving and the use of the voices of two children is quite moving. An appropriate post for this day.