Jharna Jhaveri's short documentary Maya Nagri raises some very valid questions about the way our government approaches a problem. Maya Nagri is a short 20 minute documentary featuring the zari workers of Sarai Kale Khan. When the movie begins, the children have been "arrested" and are about to be taken to the police station. Apparently under the child labor law that the government has passed both the employee and the employer are criminals. So the children , mostly from Bihar, are rounded up and taken to the police station. Their names and ages (which most of the children had no clue about) are noted down. They are produced before magistrate and finally parceled off home. Nowhere did the procedure pay attention to:
1) why do the children come to Delhi?
2) If we send them back, will it resolve the problem.
My favorite moment was when the police and the locals deny the existence of these units.
On a completely unrelated note, amma who is visiting me for two months is all charged up. She got up at 4 am today ready to make masala dosa. Appa says that at this rate lunch will be ready before breakfast.
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