Rhyme time
Lost childhood

I saw her dreams

I`A0heard her screams

I saw her eyes so bright

I felt in my heart her plight

What sin had she committed?

In this life or lives that she had knitted

In her stroll were`A0all those sad feelings

I don’t know if her wounds would`A0ever`A0get a healing

She needed toys and books

And the concern for her Barbie doll’s looks

She needed friends to play and chat

A brother on whose ball she’d bat

I don’t know how many of her exist

Who lose their childhood with the risk

Of helping their parents earn money

By working in tea stalls, homes and factories of honey

So friends, let us do them and ourselves a favour

And take a vow to curb child labour.

Aaditi, XII, Bal Niketan Model Senior Secondary School, Chandigarh