A Day’s Reflection

(written Feb 13, 2009)

Two weeks ago, I finally gave in to the hype and went to see Slumdog Millionaire with some of my fellow CINI interns. I will not add to the slew of editorials that already exist about the movie, but I will say this. I cannot think of a more fitting way to spend that evening seeing as I had spent the afternoon visiting the field where I will perform my study. I will not presume to compare real life to a fictional story, but I found that my experience of each was heightened by the other.

The area I speak of happens to be one of the minority slum communities of Kolkata. With one of the most experienced field workers as my guide, I spent a few hours in the field meeting mothers and their children and getting a feel for the community itself. Although hidden from the unobservant eye, the maze of narrow and circuitous lanes houses a population of more than 6,000 inhabitants. It has existed for quite some time, and while migration is common, it seems there are a many longstanding members of the community as well. As I walked, through the lanes, I found that the community members were just as curious about me as I was about them. Where was I from? What was my life like and what did I spend my days doing? Interestingly enough, CINI has the same questions of them, which is why I was visiting in the first place.
After climbing a pile of stones to the main road above, I found many thoughts circling around in my head. What I found most comforting at the end of the visit, was the genuine kindness I was shown by people who were essentially perfect strangers. It struck me though, that in a sense I wasn’t a perfect stranger. I was coming on behalf of the CINI community, which had now become part of the field community. A sense of trust and care had been created between CINI and the community, and that was in turn shown towards me on my visit.

Three hours later, as the movie started, I was still thinking about the events of the afternoon. As I watched the film, I couldn’t help but see the faces of the children I had met earlier in the day. Perhaps it was because of the fellow CINI interns sitting beside me, but after some time, it occurred to me that the film was in a sense doubling as a CINI training video. As the vignettes unfolded, one after another they seemed to cover every child protection issue that CINI has included in its mission, from curbing child trafficking to saving children from a life on the streets.
And after watching the film in its entirety, I had fallen victim to my sympathetic tendencies. Still, I found that it wasn’t only because of the film I had just watched, but also because of how it made me reflect on what I had seen earlier in the day. While I know it’s a fictional fairy tale, I found myself wishing that the sense of possibility for children was real, especially for children without money, without homes, and without families, for the CIN of CINI, the children in need.