By Urvashi Sarkar
Rohini Richard Marri remembers crossing an area filled with dirty gutter water on her way to school, each day in Uttan village, Thane district when she was 13 or 14 years old. She and the other children contracted rashes on their legs because of the dirty water and complained to their parents. The gutter water had got mixed up with the water from a well where people washed clothes and utensils. But no action was taken to clean the area.
Rohini and a group of other children discussed the matter in a children’s parliament and in school. They decided to take things in their own hands. With help from a teacher, Rohini penned a letter to the local municipal corporation, signed by 50 children. The letter asked the municipal authorities to clean the gutter immediately. “We also wrote that if no action was taken, the children themselves would clean the gutter, but bore no responsibility if any harm came to them,” says Rohini, adding that within three days, workers arrived to do the needful.
The children also informed their neighbours that they should not litter the streets and should dispose of garbage only in designated municipality bins.
Reflecting on her actions, Rohini says that if adults had intervened, the authorities would have still responded. “But since nobody stepped forward, the children decided to do something themselves. We were appreciated for our actions,” she says.
However, Rohini’s parents were not convinced that the authorities would pay heed to the children. “But they did not stop me either. After some time, they became impressed with my confidence and that I had become capable of speaking up for justice. They started sending my younger brother to attend parliament as well.”
Now, Rohini leads the children’s parliament, which was started by the Centre for Social Action (CSA) in 2010. She joined the group in 2012. “Initially, I thought this was a place to come and play. But in the parliament, we began realising our duties and responsibilities and that children have a role in social change,” she says.
In comparison to school, Rohini prefers the children’s parliament because she feels that only bright and expressive children manage to progress in school, whereas in parliament, everyone is given a chance. “I feel more confident. I also dress neatly and comb my hair before attending the parliament, which I would not do earlier.”
Two years ago, the parliament tried to take action against an alcoholic man who would beat his wife and children—the latter was also irregular in school. Rohini, her tuition teacher and 30 children of the parliament went to the man’s house and warned him not to hit the wife and children, or else they would approach the police. According to Rohini, this seems to have worked. “I think the man has stopped beating up his children. And now, they come to school regularly too.”
The children’s parliament has also conducted awareness visits to a police station, post office and an orphanage. Rohini loves to go out with her friends and play. But until recently, her parents would ask her to stay at home and study. “We tell them that as children it is our right to play,” she says with a smile breaking out on her face, which is otherwise serious and thoughtful.
Now that she is an adult, Rohini notices that her mother treats her differently. “Earlier, I would be ordered to go to tuition, study, etc. But now my mother says that I must decide what I want to do,” she says, agreeing that the rights of a child and recently turned adult is different. She also thinks that humans are born with intrinsic rights.
Rohini has an aptitude for math and wants to teach the subject, for which she plans to enroll into a teaching course. Are her parents asking her to get married, now that she is 18?
“No. I will marry later. In our community, girls marry at 27–28 years,” she says.
The above article was first published here.