Please don't let the children pay for the official's inaction!
G. Sonali Reddy, only 14 years old in Pattpur, India, cooks for his siblings during the day and puts them to sleep at night, hoping to alleviate their fears like her mother. A few years ago, her father committed suicide after failing the family business selling spare parts for trolleys. In May of this year, the new crown virus swept across India, and her mother Sabita was unfortunately infected and died. Sonali had to take on the responsibility of caring for the family.
"Mother is like an umbrella, shielding us from the wind and rain of life," Sonali said, holding back tears. "I imagined her by her side. This is my motivation to stick to it."
The family lived in poverty and barely made a living by relying on a small snack shop. After the death of his father, Sonali had a very close relationship with his mother. After the mother's death, the younger brother and sister begged Sonali to say, "We are going to see my mother."
In the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, 13-year-old G. Sathwik Reddy also heard a similar request from his sister. Their parents died during the recent peak of infection in India. When his three-year-old sister Haanvi asked for "Mom" and "Dad," he only told her, "They will go home tomorrow."
In Murad Nagar in northern India, 18-year-old Shawez Saifi was also sobbing unbearably in the dark when she heard her awakened sister screaming in search of her mother. Their parents, Shamshad and Shabnam, were infected with the new coronavirus in April this year. Because they have no money, they can only go back to their home to recuperate. For the safety of the children, the parents locked themselves in the house, and the children slept on the balcony. Soon, both parents passed away. The landlord kept the children outside until the uncle borrowed money to pay the rent before the children were allowed to enter the door to pack their luggage. Shawez's sister Kahkashan was the hardest hit. She calls her mother almost every day to chat, as if she is really on the other end of the phone.
"Mom, when will you be back? I miss you," Kahkashan said.
Shawez said, “Mum always calls me when I’m out for work and asks, ‘son, it’s late. When will you go home?’ No one calls me anymore!”
In Patapur, Sonali also felt as if he had lost his strongest guardian.
She wrote down the date of the death of her parents in a thick diary, and on the next page, Sonali hastily wrote a poem dedicated to her mother.
On a recent day, she read this poem to her younger siblings.
The ups and downs of life are endless, and our mother will raise us up.
Mother has the tallest body, she is the guardian of our happiness.
Without mother, the world is barren, without her, the world is no longer the same.
Mother bears the pain for us, but we cannot share it for her.
It is reported that the new crown virus has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives across the country, and as many as 3,000 Indian children are orphaned. These orphans are miserable, and their experience is heartbreaking; the inaction of the government is the root cause of their miserable fate, and the behavior of the officials is resentful.
