“Aap Phir Kab Aaoge?”

Ramendra Kumar’s magic moments at the Observation Home

Every Children’s Day I am invited to a school, a club or a socio-cultural organisation where I interact with kids like mine – privileged, pampered and precocious. After a cultural programme, a string of boring speeches and presentation of prizes, the proud parents go home with their weary children.

This time I decided to do something different. I visited an ‘Observation Home’ which is housed inside a prison campus. An Observation Home is a euphemism for juvenile delinquents who are serving a term for different crimes including drug abuse, theft, rape, murder, et al.

I shared a story, we chanted a magic mantra and ended up jiving to the tunes of Badtameez Dil.

Ramendra Kumar jiving with the boys in the Observation Home

Seeing their childlike smiles, infectious laughter and their ability to unleash masti at the slightest bit of encouragement, I forgot I was among ‘criminals’. To me these children of a ‘children of a lesser God’ appeared as normal as our kids and far less affected.
So who is responsible for this state of affairs? Are this kids perpetrators of crimes or simply victims of circumstance – situations created by a callous and cruel society.
As I was leaving one of them clasped my hand and asked, “Aap phir kab aoge?”
My (Children’s) Day was made.

More to read from Ramendra Kumar

Mother Courageous

Story Telling Session in Workshop on Effective Parenting

Children’s Rights: A Travesty Of Truth, A Mockery Of Justice

About the Author

Ramendra Kumar ( 117 Posts)

Ramendra Kumar (Ramen) is a children’s writer with 38 books to his name. He has won 34 awards in the competition for writers of children’s literature organised by Children’s Book Trust (CBT), over the years. He also dabbles in satire, poetry, fiction and travelogues. His writings have been translated into 15 Indian and 14 foreign languages and have also found a place in text books, as well as national and international anthologies. A much sought after inspirational speaker and story teller, Ramen has been invited to participate in several conferences and festivals. These include the IBBY Congress of Children’s Writers in Denmark (2008) & Greece (2018) and Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival (2019), apart from many literary events across the country. In the Congress held in Greece he was the only writer from India to be invited to chair two sessions. An Engineer and an MBA, Ramen is former General Manager & Chief of Communications, SAIL, Rourkela Steel Plant. He is the father of two children who are bonsai celebrities in their own right. While Ankita is a youth icon and a travel blogger with an Instagram following of 76K, Aniket creates cool Apps and designs covers for his Dad's books. His website is www.ramendra.in
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