India of My Dreams
Continued

Pic: Sondeep Shankar

"I'd open more amusement parks and let children have fun."

Trijat Katoch, 9, Standard V; son of a Delhi entrepreneur; aspires to be a Test cricketer when he grows up; role model: Sanath Jayasuriya; wants to hit sixes like him.

I'd make sure the police catch bad people. Nowadays they don't take interest in their work. I'd see that all grown-ups are working and not lazing around. No one should beg. I'd make a rule that when you buy a car you must plant a tree. All rivers should be kept clean. I'd put lots of garbage bins all over and make sure they are cleared every day. I want people to get clean food and water so that they don't lose their lives because of infections. Also there should be no violence. I'd tell everyone to fight with their mouths instead of their hands. I'd open amusement parks and ice-cream parlours all over the country and let children have fun.

Pic: Fawzan Husain


"Make an armyman PM. He'd be better than today's leaders."

Sudarshan Govindrai Kamat, 14, Standard IX; son of a Bangalore hotel chain owner who is keen on expanding his family business to other countries.

Bribery is India's biggest problem. Everywhere we hear that without that no work gets done. Why should we pay extra cash for getting legitimate work done? I don't think any country is as bad as India in this area. Unless we check this, lower taxes and feed the poor, there is no hope for our millions. Maybe we should make an armyman the PM. He will be much better than today's leaders. I admire J.R.D. Tata, the industrialist. He was such a dynamic person. There is no one like him today in our country.

Pic: Soumitra Ghosh

"I'd open schools. If we all do well India will do well too."

Moitreyee Chowdhury, 13, Standard IX; daughter of a Calcutta doctor; her dream is to be a marine biologist because she loves to explore the ocean.

Children like us who are the future of the nation must be independent. To do that we must get proper education. More schools must be established in villages.We need more universities. There must be political peace so that nobody's life is at risk. If the citizens are willing, India can solve her problems. If we all do well, India will do well too.

Pic: Sondeep Shankar


"We are still slaves, though the Angrez have left."

Rajani Puran Singh, 12, a chowkidar's daughter in a slum near the affluent Vasant Vihar in Delhi; has dropped out of school but wants to become a lawyer.

It has been 50 years since the Angrez (British) have left, but slavery has not gone. We don't have food, clothes and we have to work in homes at such a young age. Until poverty is removed, there is no end to our slavery. The first thing I'd do as PM would be to tell children like me who are poor to study so that they could make it big when they grow up. Children learn to beg, steal and become criminals because they are poor. If they had schools in villages and food to eat, they would learn that it is not good to break the law. Also, most parents do not want girls. If they do have a girl they do not educate her. They marry her off at the age of 15. She becomes a mother too early and this is a crime. Everyone in our country should treat us like equals.

Pic: Soumitra Ghosh

"If I were PM I'd buy pastries. I've seen them but never tasted them."

Raju Roy, 8, school dropout; son of a coolie in Calcutta; his ambition is to become a train driver so that he can take the train wherever he wants.

Who is a PM? You mean the type of people for whom the police chase us away when they catch the train? What do they do? They seem very rich. If that's the job then the first thing I'd do is buy pastries from food stalls for me and my friends. I have seen them but never tasted them. I would drink a cold drink like the one I saw Shah Rukh Khan have and say "Yehi hai right choice". The shop owners here give me the left-over bottles. I like the tingle.

--reports from RAMESH VINAYAK, Srinagar; ROHIT PARIHAR, Chandigarh; RUBEN BANNERJEE, Calcutta; AVIROOK SEN, Guwahati; FARZAND AHMED, Patna; SUBHASH MISHRA, Lucknow; BHARAT DESAI, Bhopal; UDAY MAHURKAR, Ahmedabad; NANDITA CHOWDHURY, Mumbai; AMARNATH MENON, Hyderabad; STEPHEN DAVID, Bangalore; L R JAGADHEESAN, Chennai and M G RADAKRISHNAN, Kochi

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