Fire at multi-story building in Delhi’s Connaught Place
Luckily no one is reportedly hurt in the incident as the blaze was brought under control within 2.10 minutes of commencing the fire fighting.
Among the many attractions in Connaught Place are the pavement vendors. A variety of goods ~ handicrafts, posters, costume jewellery, books, food and toys to name some ~ are sold on the pavements, attracting a fair number of shoppers. Among the vendors, several are women.
Their children often sit by their side or assist them. A colleague returning to office from an assignment, noticed one such group, comprising two women and an infant, outside the Janpath Metro station. What caught the colleague's eye was the baby, lying on a piece of cloth.
The infant was very fair and did not appear to belong to either of the two vendor women. Our colleague reached the Metro gate but the sight of the baby kept haunting him.
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Fearing that perhaps the child was a stolen one, he returned. Under the pretext of buying some of the beads that the women were selling, our colleague first admired the child and then asked about it.
One of the women said it was her grand-daughter and that her daughter was walking around trying to sell the beads to shoppers, particularly foreigners. When he pointed out the difference in colour and features, the woman replied that her daughter too had a light complexion.
Not satisfied with the answers, our colleague planned to approach the police with some pictures that he secretly took. ‘ Just then the daughter turned up and he found the features and colouring of the mother and baby matching.
While chatting, the women said they came from a trans-Yamuna area and sold beads to supplement the family income. Asked why they had brought the infant in the sweltering heat, the women said they had no alternative and had to bring children along whether it is hot, cold or rainy.
That set our colleague thinking as to why government could not make some arrangements for a crèche for the children of these vendors.
Do they not deserve a better future even as the parents fended for a livelihood, he asked.
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