Patharia, a village-situated in the Bundhelkund region is stark contrast to other villages. Inhabited by the Bedia tribe, a part of the vimukta jati where adult members in the family never worked and depended solely on the earnings of the young girl involved in prostitution.

At an age when children bubble with the sheer joy of being alive, there are millions of small girls struggling to survive the burdens of poverty, overwork and ill-health in India.

The stark white room is echoing with dreams. "I want to become a doctor... I am engineer... I want to become a nun... (this evokes a riot of laughter) I want to become a dress designer... My dream is to become a social worker ....

India is among the first group of countries along with others in Africa to identify the "girl child" as the focus of attention for improving the social and economic status of women.

The term adolescence comes from the Latin word “adolescere,” which literally means "grow to maturity." This implies that the period of adolescence is one during which the child is slowly transformed into a mature adult.

The relationship between society and nature is an old one. It might be better to say that this relationship is ancient.

Sexual abuse of children is an issue shrouded in ignorance and denial in our country. One of the chief reasons for this conspiracy of silence is the high value, almost idealization, of the family.

A society is judged by the way it treats its women and children. So is a judicial system. Nothing is more horrifying than the sexual abuse of a child: nothing more reprehensible than a judicial system that subsequently victimises the victim, police behaviour that adds terror to agony.

The statement, tucked away in one of the many thick Agrawal Samaj magazines I had been perusing, made me smile.

About one quarter of India's population comprises girl children up to the age of 19 years. Today's girl is tomorrow's mother. However, she is discriminated socially, psychologically, economically and in violation of the law.