When every child is free to be a child, only then my dream will come true- Satyarthi

Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi addressed the 70th Rare Share session organized by the AMA

Aurangabad, March 23:

“My mission in life is that every child on the earth is free, free to walk to school, free to laugh and play. When every child is free to be a child, only then my dream will come true”, said Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi while addressing the 70th Rare Share session organized by the Aurangabad Management Association (AMA) at Rukmini Hall, MGM on Wednesday.

Throughout the hour-long engaging session, Satyarthi spoke on his life, he emphasized on how his journey as a child rights activist started and took shape, his experience of winning the Nobel Peace Prize. Satyarthi said his mission as a children’s rights activist began when he himself was a child. On my first day of school, I saw another kid about my age working as a shoeshine boy instead of attending class. It disturbed me so much that one day I gathered the courage to ask the boy’s father, a cobbler, why he didn’t send him to school. The answer left an indelible mark on me. He told me, ‘You’re born to go to school, and we’re born to work. It was a shock for me, said Satyarthi. The incident became a permanent marker in my mind even though I went on to become an electrical engineer, I wanted to work against child labour but didn't know how. There was no study or legislation against social evil. Even the agencies of the UN never took up the cause till the 1980s. The notion of child rights came only in 1989 when the UN convention on the rights of the child was adopted, he says. He appealed to one and all to bring a smile to the face of a crying child, especially those who have lost their childhood to forced labour in gloomy factories and at heartless homes. MGM trustee Ankushrao Kadam, association president Satish Kagliwal, chairman CP Tripathi, Dr Sunil Deshpande and Nandkishor Kagliwal were present.

About the first rescue

Our first rescue happened in 1981 at a brick kiln in Sarhind, Punjab. The father of a girl came to us. We were publishing a magazine, Sangharsh Jaari Rahega, and he somehow came to know about it. He had come to publicize his plight but I realized it was not just a matter of writing something. I had to act because it was a matter involving a 15 year old girl who was about to be sold to a brothel. We were beaten, but rescued the girl and it was the look in her eyes, that I felt that she was freeing me and not me freeing her.

Led global march against child labor

Satyarthi said "In 1986 the Indian government passed the Child Labor Act, which prohibits hiring children younger than 14 years old for hazardous jobs. In 1998, we led a global march against child labor across 103 countries, that received participation of 71 prime ministers, presidents and rulers and 15 lakh people. A year later the International Labor Organization adopted Convention No 182, concerning the prohibition of child labor and immediate action on eliminating the worst forms of child labor.

Ellora is a once in a lifetime experience

Elaborating the beauty of Ellora, Satyarthi said that after seeing Ellora you experience the strength and skills that Indians possessed in the past. Ellora is a combination of math, culture, mythology, yoga, fashion, designing, science and skills. The imagination of just building a temple from a mountain is just mesmerizing.

Every minute is important

As we are speaking, 8 children would have been abducted, 5 children would have been molested and 3 children would have faced sexual abused in an hour. Hence not even a single minute must not be wasted and should be spent to end the suffering of the children.

Clicked 10 to 15 selfies

I never dreamt of winning a Nobel prize. But I always wanted to click a photo with a Nobel prize winner. For that I had to wait for 50 years. Winning a noble was beyond my imagination. Hence when I heard that I was a nobel prize winner, I first ran to the bathroom and clicked 10 to 15 selfies in front of the mirror.