India of My Dreams
Continued

Pic: Saibal Das
"If you don't pay the police -- at every naka -- they'll beat you up."

Malkit Singh, 15; son of a truck driver in Batala (Punjab); dropped out of school since he couldn't afford it; says he has no choice but to be a driver when he grows up.

In India no one listens to the poor. Also, you cannot live here by following the truth. I do feel angry about it. If I were PM I would check problems that I have faced. During my trips in a truck, at every naka (corner) the police take money -- from Rs 20 to Rs 100. You can be beaten up if you refuse. I would try and end that. However, I believe things will only get worse. There are no good leaders here. Gujral? Who is he?

"I'd give people jobs to keep them out of trouble."

Gomol Mark, 13, Standard VII; Garo tribal living in Umpher (Meghalaya); an insurgency-affected area; his ambition is to be a lawyer or a policeman to fight for justice.

The biggest problem we have today is that of insurgency. Violence is no way to solve a problem. Everybody has rights but there are legal ways of getting them. I'd give loans to the poor so they can start businesses and become self-sufficient. We need to keep people employed. When they don't have anything useful to do, they become angry and turn to extremism. I'd like to be like Purno Sangma (Lok Sabha Speaker, a Garo), who is god-fearing, upright and honest.

Pic: Dilip Bannerjee

"I would do my best to throw the gun out of Kashmir."

Firdausa Akhtar, 13, Standard VII; Qazigund (south Kashmir); father is a surrendered militant; she wants to be a doctor when she grows up to heal the Valley's wounded.

I don't know how a normal Kashmir looks like. I have grown up with fear, bullets and blood. I'd do my best to throw the gun out of Kashmir. Everybody wants to live in peace. When my mother recounts how this place was a zannat (paradise), it sounds like a fairy tale to me. Militancy has ruined everything in our land. My school closes when there is a hartal. We had to abandon our ancestral home because of threats. I cannot go out to play with my friends. My brother couldn't go to college because of the threat to our lives. Whenever our father goes out, we worry a lot about him. Khauf mein jee rahe hain (we are living in fear). When I see Kashmir in Hindi movies, I wonder if this was my land. Now there are no songs in Kashmir. I like Karisma Kapoor. Her smiling face makes me forget the fear that often shadows me. Will she come to our Kashmir to sing a song?

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