I was finally back from Calcutta ! The heat had taken its toll on me - throat infection,fever. So, the day started with me meeting these guys at the Baruipur station.This was my second field trip and I was visibly excited. I had missed on the other 2 because of my illness :(.  We were to go to Mograhat, to cover the “Adarini” project. This project is one year old and is aimed at eradicating child marriages from this block which consists of 14 Gram Panchayats in next 5 years.We will make a video to be used for sponsorship purposes by NISHTHA.

We visited three out of 14 day care centers where the girls (8-17 years old, dropouts /never been to school) were taught/ given vocational training. We were told that South 24 Paraganas in Bengal is infamous for child marriages and child trafficking. This village has a very high Muslim population where avg. no of kids per family is 8 and the avg. monthly income is Rs. 900.The boys in the village mostly attend “Madarsas”. NISHTHA operates day care centres where  they try to mainstream the younger girls  where as the older ones focus on vocational training. The idea is to keep them busy till they are 18.A nominal fee of Rs 25 per month is charged so that these kids take their education seriously and attend classes. They are also provided with lunch at the centers.

We met a family where a 10 year old girl was recently mainstreamed. When asked, whether he’ll get her married early like her sisters , her father said that he earns Rs. 900/month and had 8 kids. He will try teaching her as long as he can afford it. On asking that Government schools are free, he said that the school doesn’t suffice, the kid would soon need coaching classes to pass in school exams. Coaching classes are costly affair ! We met the older sisters of the girl - 16 and 17 years old, married and with 1 and 2 kids respectively.

We were told that child marriages is rampant in the villages because the amount of dowry involved is inversely proportional to the age of the bride. The younger the bride, the lesser the dowry ! So, as soon as the girl hits puberty, she is married off.

We met a 16 year old who after her marriage, found out that her husband already had a wife from a previous marriage. She  is now staying with her parents. She attends the day care center and doesn’t want to get married again.

We met another 16 year old girl who was forced to marry against her choice. She has never attended school and was (is) in love with somebody else.She was forced into this marriage because her husband was her cousin, and intra- family marriages in Muslims means lesser dowry, “money stays within the family.” She was unhappy at her in-law’s house. Not being able to bear the everyday  domestic fights at home, she returned back to her parent’s house. She hopes to marry the guy she loves very soon. She wanted a month long crash course in tailoring at the day care centre so as to support the guy she loved, who was a tailor. We were stunned ! We were witnessing  uneducation right in front of our eyes - Marriage was the end of the world for this girl!  We could her entering another vicious cycle soon, when her new in-laws would find that she was already married once ! Yeah, she plans to keep it a secret from them !

We were told that it is not always that parents want to marry their kids early. Many a times, adolescent boys and girls influenced by movies force their parents to marry them or worse still, filmy style, they run and marry on their own ! We were like-  Whoa !

We were to meet another family where a 13 year old girl was trafficked to Pune by a neighbour some 25 days ago ! Well, when you have 8 kids and an income of Rs. 800/month; we were told that you feel grateful to the neighbour who wants to take your kids to the zoo in Calcutta.

We then met the Head (I have forgotten the technical term) of one of the Gram Panchayats. She was an uneducated 30 year old lady. Her ministers asked us - “What is NISHTHA doing about kids who have to drop out because they cannot afford text books and coaching classes?”  I was so pissed at the question, I replied - “What is Government doing about it ?”

With that, our day at Mograhat ended. We headed back to Baruipur to visit the Night Shelter Home finally !!!!!