"LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON:BREAK THE CYCLE"

“The thunder rumbled as he went ahead,

trembling he might face what he fears,

that will extinguish this warm light that lit in his chest,

he hopes he might conquer and not be like the rest.

But with never ending road and storm,

that light eventually transformed,

to the bleak of hope that he could never recover from!”

He opened his eyes, it was early in the morning, all a person could hear was the barking of the dogs.

The hay on the roof was hanging, “It needs to be fixed” whispered a man of 40 years of age. He

stood upright, wore his clothes and went outside with his bag. He reached a place that seemed fit

and opened his bag, took out a box and a hammer. He eagerly waits and then someone comes and

puts forward his right shoe in front of the man. That man then starts polishing his first customer’s

shoes. This man for just Rs 20, sits at one place for a whole day for the rest of the 365 days of his life

to earn a living.

Is it okay for a child born in a poor family to give up his dream so that he can support his family like

his father does? Is it okay for him to think that the education he is getting will help him earn a little

more? Is it okay for him to not to be like his father?

Every parent dreams that their child would do better in life, become a better person, earn better,

yet not every parent can see their dream being fulfilled. The circumstances, the poverty, the

unavailable resources and scarcity of money destroy their hopes, shatter their dreams and bury it in

the soil from where they can never rise again.

In the slums of Kashmere gate, where World Youth Council has taken an initiative, people are living

under a flyover. It is serving home to dozens of families. The adults are committed to menial jobs like

household maids, mere labourers, costermonger, rickshaw pullers and what not. The struggle of

their day begins with scorching heat and ends with cuts on their hands due to immense work so that

they could eat two meals a day and their children could study and have a better future.

But who can tell them that this poverty is a termite, it preys on everything and does not spare

children, their innocent childhood and hopeful future.

Due to inflation, unemployment and corruption, the solution to their condition has been impossible.

Years of hoping for a change, waiting for jobs, waiting for a better resort to earn money yet they got

nothing but their hopes and dreams turning to dust. The struggle of everyday for their survival in this

world is the toughest challenge for them. Some days, they even sleep hungry so that their child can

never feel the same pain they suffer through daily.

They are all caught in a cobweb where even if they try, they can never get out of it.

But NGOs like WYC has made sure that the children in that slum area are taught and given proper

education, they even serve lunch to them, host extra curricular activities to build their character and

keep that hope ignited in the hearts of those parents working on their blood and toil that may be

their children will break this web and spread their wings of talent and have better future than them.

But the question still arises: Is it enough?

One day, the web would be torn apart,

One day the wings would spread,

because that day, He will not be like the rest.

He will pursue his dream and will gleam,

Like father, like son but he chose to break the cycle.