1 of 1

Write now Article Tools

Page 3 of 3

of global power, claim exemption from a battle fought on such far lands. While there may be no Adolf Hitler or Idi Amin behind it, make no mistake it is a holocaust all the same.

While this silent war is waged against millions of children, a very different India is the one we see and hear about. Its emergence on the international markets with leading industries such as technology, pharmaceuticals and manufacturing have put it squarely in the center of global importance, with an astounding annual growth rate of nine percent bringing an influx of new wealth daily. The country is home to the fastest-growing middle class in history; whose numbers, at over three hundred million, are more than the entire population of the United States. India has emerged as one of the world's greatest wealth creators, thanks to a buoyant stock market and high earnings. Stories about this shimmering new India fill newspapers and business magazines.

Yet amidst this growing prosperity there is a hidden India. Hundreds of millions are excluded from the boom, living completely outside the affluence it brings. They exist on its periphery, pushed to the margins, and often seem a source of embarrassment to those who wish to present only the shiny new face of Indian success. In this other India an entire generation of parentless children is growing up more than twenty-five million of them, with close to four million more joining their ranks each year. India is also home most AIDS orphans of any country in the world, approaching two million a number that is expected to double over the next five years.

In my journeys over the last three years into the orphanages, slums, clinics and streets of India I have become immersed in dozens of children's lives. Their hope and resilience amazed me time and time again; the ability of their spirits to overcome crippling challenges inspired me. Even in the most deprived circumstances they are still kids they laugh and play, perhaps far less frequently than others; they develop strong bonds and relationships to create family where none exists; and most of all they have an enormous amount of love to give. The stories they shared with me do not belong to me. They were given to me as a gift, often because I was the only person who had ever asked. And so I am merely the narrator who attempts to relay their stories to others, for that is the only thing I have to offer.

Many people ask me, why India? And my simple answer is, why not? I find most people who ask this question are really asking, why don't you do something here at home instead of traveling halfway around the world? There are plenty of children here who are suffering and need help. I agree, and donate significant amounts of both time and money to nonprofits doing incredible work for children right here in the United States.

But besides that, why India? Because I believe that every life, no matter where it's lived, has equal value. Because extreme poverty in India is not the same as poverty in the United States. Because there are very little if any safety nets for these children who fall through the cracks. Although we have vast problems in my home country as well, millions of children in the U.S. aren't generally threatened by malaria and tuberculosis, denied their entire educations or trafficked, sold into factories or domestic labor if they're lucky, to brothels if they're not. A childhood cannot wait for the AIDS epidemic to subside, for poverty to be eradicated, for adults and governments to act, for the world to notice them. Once gone, their childhoods can never be regained.

And quite simply, because those twenty-five million children exist.

Learn more about this author, Shelley Seale.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

• << previous page
• 1
• 2
• 3

Add your voice

Know something about Travel diaries: Invisible children of India?
We want to hear your view. Write now!