Boys without Names (23 page)

I
n recent years we have seen reports and stories about multinational, brand-name, well-respected companies whose goods are made by child labor. Most of these companies are European and American. These stories set me on the journey to write this novel.

In my previous trips to India, my birthplace, I had talked extensively with young girls who worked as domestic help to try and understand their customs and why they had fled their villages, but in 2008 I decided to travel to India once more to learn more about child labor. As I traveled I talked with many poor children and adults. I learned how children worked, lived in slums, and how rural poverty pushed people to the big cities and changed their lives. On a train station in Jaipur, a boy around eleven years of age, dressed in clean clothes and with combed hair, stepped forward to help our taxi driver load the luggage without our asking him. I gave him money and then made sure our driver knew which hotel we were going to. When I turned around to talk to the boy, he was gone. I was disappointed. His bright eyes and friendly smile stayed with
me. My protagonist, Gopal, is fashioned after him.

I also traveled to Matheran, a hilltop resort near Mumbai, and met a couple there. The man worked in our hotel and his wife carried our luggage. Some of their relatives had moved to Mumbai to look for work. They were such a delightful couple—happy, content, and hard-working. They left their home in the valley at four thirty in the morning because it took them almost two hours to climb up the hill to Matheran. I thought of my main character, Gopal, having those kinds of parents and family.

In Matheran I talked to one of the men who owned two horses. His livelihood depended on them, and he too was from the valley below Matheran. He had a teenage daughter, and even though there were marriage proposals for her, as is their custom, he refused to let her get married. “My daughter is smart and always comes first in school, so I want her to get a good education and have a better life,” he told me. I also read heartbreaking stories about onion farmers from this area and how the good crop season had ruined them. I put all these people and stories together to create Gopal and his family. So Gopal comes from the state of Maharastra, and Marathi is his mother tongue. (It is also the official language of the state, and Mumbai is its capital.)

On our railway journey to Rajasthan, a boy around eight or nine dressed in soiled clothes stepped into our compartment at one of the stations. He began to clean the floor with his hands. When he spilled some tea one of the passengers had left behind in a paper cup, he took off his sweater and used it as a rag. Then he asked passengers for money. He was extremely shy, and when I tried to talk to him he looked scared. I was shocked to find out he was twelve. When I asked him about his parents and family, he hesitantly told me he lived with his
maternal grandmother. He was nervous and glanced out the window as if he was afraid of someone. Then the train whistle blew and he left before I could ask him more questions.

I also talked with a nonprofit organization in Mumbai that works with children who run away from home or are lured into coming to Mumbai to find work. The challenging work they do provided me invaluable insight about what is being done to help these children.

 

In the affluent and industrial nations children earn pocket money by babysitting, mowing lawns, or helping with household chores, but in many other countries children work every single day from dawn to dusk and beyond for very little money and under unhygienic and cruel conditions. Some of the factories, shops, and farms exploit children, deny them education, and trap them in a cycle of poverty. Sadly, the problem is widespread.

During my research I found that child labor is more widespread than I had thought. An article on child labor in
Forbes Magazine
(February 25, 2008) reports:

These children work in carpet weaving, garment industries, fireworks factories, as household help, in restaurants, and even as soldiers. The goods and products they make reach the far corners of the world and some of the biggest markets. The products range from cheap hand-embroidered and beaded
purses and tops to garden statues, handwoven carpets, coffee, sports equipment, and more. These goods made by children are inexpensive and well made, but those who make them are denied education, their childhood, and sometimes their freedom.

Even in the United States there is child labor. Many children, mostly illegal immigrants, work all day doing farm and garden work and household chores instead of attending school. These children do not get an education and have no health insurance.

Where does this end? Child labor will persist as long as there is widespread poverty and children must work to feed themselves and their family, and as long as there is a market for cheap goods.

Here are some articles and websites about child labor:

 

Child labor article from
Forbes
:

www.forbes.com/forbes/2008/0225/072.html

 

UNICEF:

www.unicef.org/protection/index_childlabour.html

 

Antislavery website:

www.antislavery.org/homepage/antislavery/childlabour.htm#what

 

International Labor Rights Forum:

www.laborrights.org/stop-child-labor

 

Bachpan Bachao Andolan, Save the Childhood Movement website:

www.bba.org.in

I
n the fall of 2007 my agent, Charlotte Sheedy, called me and asked me to consider writing a book about child labor. I thank Charlotte for her ideas, insight, and support, and Meredith Kaffel for her help.

I am fortunate to have friends in India whose homes are always open to me. The love and hospitality of the Dani and Gandhi families make going to India a pleasure.

Thanks to Altaf Shaikh from Saathi for talking to me about the organization. The work they do is incredible and inspiring. Please visit Saathi's website: www.saathi.org/index.htm.

My daughter Rupa Valdez was my first reader. Over the past year she and her sister, Neha Sheth, read and edited my manuscript. My son-in-law, Joey Valdez, is my technology problem solver. Without him a slightest glitch would stop me from doing my work. I am thankful to all three of them as well as to my husband, Rajan.

I extend my deepest thanks to my fellow writers and friends Georgia Beverson, Judy Bryan, Emily Kokie, and Bridget Zinn for their insightful critiques, suggestions, and comments. I
also thank my critique-group members and friends, Rosanne Lindsay, Michael Kress-Russick, Julie Shaull, and Melinda Starkweather, for their generous help.

My sincere thanks to Sanjay Joshi, who has background and expertise with disadvantaged children, for his thoughtful and thorough reading of the manuscript.

I had no idea how much work was still waiting for me once I accepted the offer from Balzer + Bray. I am indebted to my editor, Donna Bray, for challenging and encouraging me to write the best book I could. And many thanks to Ruta Rimas and the rest of the team at HarperCollins.

Without my mom's blessings and love nothing would have been possible for me.

Over the years so many dear friends and family members have made this journey possible for me. I am grateful to them all.

Jacket art © 2010 by Alf Berg/OnAsia/Jupiterimages

Jacket design by Anne Diebel