OJ's Corner -REFLECTIONS

Budhia bubble

Hello Budhia Singh! You are only four years old. You are running long distances and faster too. Agreed, you are not like ordinary kids who bounce around the courtyard and neighbourhood clutching the hands of your mother or siblings. Others of your age would be prancing around the lower kindergarten, fiddling with rockers, see-saws, revolving on the merry-go-round and falling down the big slide.

"Altius, citius, fortius" (Olympic motto higher, faster,stronger) is not your motto now. It is being usurped by your foster father, Mr Biranchi Das.

You are participating in marathons and made to create records, at the bidding of Mr Das, in Bhubaneswar, Orissa, India. He has incarnated himself as your coach!

Last time, you were running 75 kilometres at a stretch. By the 65th kilometre, you almost swooned. With much prodding and helping you continued the race. With fortitude you were going on and on to create the record.

Dear child, you have extra-ordinary prowess that has tempered your body and soul to suffer hardships. You are hurting your body and soul, which is nothing but mortification.

For God's sake, please run around as much as you want, to your heart's content. But not to please your godfather, who wants to fleece you. Tender being, you do not know, others are taking advantage of you.

God has created us with limitations, within which we should function. Your feat is not an intellectual exercise, but it is unthought of body action, torture. Your physique cannot stand it.

Let all sane persons come to your aid, salvage you from financial hardhships. You definitely deserve a break and a better living. But this is not the way to get a few pennies precociously.

You should definitely train yourself to achieve greatness in this race itself, but please don't jump overboard to gain heights. You will ruin yourself.

Your godfather now says he would take you out of Orissa as the government is thinking of taking criminal action against him. The government is trying to put a ban on your ostensibly forced participation in the marathon at the instance of your foster father. He has nothing to lose, but has everything to gain, money and fame by abusing your body at this tender age.

Doctors are against your marathon running. The child welfare committee is deadly against your further feats of recklessness.

Mr Das is, apparently, exaggerating about offers from the US, UK and the like. If you get opportunities to train yourself slowly and steadily and gradually bloom at the ripe age, that is well and good, but not this unwholesome attempt now.

You are a champion yourself in running. You don't have to go for marathon now to prove anything.

You do not know, this is nothing but cruelty being inflicted upon you. But your godfather knows it very well that you are being taken advantage of.

I tell you, one day those who exploit you will face the music. Under the existing provisions of law, teh abettor can be prosecuted for cruelty.

You are innocent of this macabre exercise. Wordsworth said of Caroline, his daughter born out of marriage:

" Dear child, dear girl! that walkest with me here,
If thou appear untouched by solemn thought,
Thy nature is not therefore less divine:
Thou liest in Abraham's bosom all the year;
And woshipp'st at the Temple's inner shrine,
God being with thee when we know it not".

This is true of you, innocent child. God bless you.