Mike Pandey, producer of the documentary Not My life, tells Darpan Mago that every eight minutes a child goes missing in India. He says that many such children become slaves at factories, brothels and mines
A man was trafficked from Jodhpur and brought to work as bonded labourer in the mining industry of Bhiwani in Haryana. Years of utter torture and cruelty went by but this man was never allowed to return. He ended up getting married in the same mining cave and had children. Surprisingly, the dark cave had grown deep and was now housing three generations of the same family. later, a rescue operation was carried out by the NGO Bachpan Bachao Andolan and his granddaughter of about seven years of age was liberated from the atrocities of mining industry in the region. “We rescued people who were forced to work in inhuman conditions. After the operation, we gave this little girl a banana and she started eating it with the peel. She didn’t know what banana was and called it a ‘strange type of potato,’” says Kailash Satyarthi, the founder of Bachpan Bachao Andolan.
Many such stories of human trafficking and child slavery are featured in Robert Bilheimer’s documentary, Not My life. This 56-minute film took four years to complete and brings to light the multiple forms of child exploitation and human trafficking. This is a common malice world over and destroys the lives of many men, women and children who get caught in the vicious circle. “We don’t have to go much far, many can be found in the dark corners of streets or in prominent Delhi markets trying to earn a living from the spare change in our pockets. Every eight minutes, a child disappears in India. There are over 35 million slaves in the world and 52 per cent of them are in India. The beggars on streets and traffic signals are part of the organised mafia of human trafficking and slavery,” says Mike Pandey, filmmaker and producer of Not My life.
We as a society might have grown immune to such horrid descriptions and not many of us ever try to dig reasons for such practices, the film Not My life is all set to break walls that people have built around themselves. “The effort was to bring out the inhuman practice and make people aware of our civilisation’s tragedy. There are child soldiers in Africa and small babies in Vietnam and Cambodia who are sold as slaves. It must be noted that poorer countries in Europe, majorly gypsy communities, wait till their daughters grow and then sell them to a buyer in Italy. Shot in five continents and 12 different countries, the film shows a cross section of exploitation and multiple forms of slave labour around the world. The whole idea is to question civilised people in society, who are often not able to do anything about it. This is an age where we live in big homes and enjoy lavish lifestyles but a major chunk of population still suffers of unimaginable, gruesome torture,” says Mike. Many have often considered human trafficking and slavery as menace much greater than the trade of drugs.
The documentary is also translated into Hindi for a special premier to be aired on the national channel of Doordarshan.
Says Tripurari Sharan, director general of Doordarshan, “We wanted to bring this tragedy of human trafficking to attention of our huge audience base. The film is an eye-opener as well as a profound calling for action.”