When Slave Prodogies Run

Everyone loves a child prodigy. Especially Indians. Whether it is an 8-year-old child who becomes a certified Microsoft engineer, or Akrit Jaswal who preformed surgery on a deformed child when he was only seven years old. And who doesn't want their child to excel at a young age? But does having an exceptional ability at a young age mean that parents or guardians should encourage the ability to grow? And what happens when money gets involved?

Born in 2002 Budhia Singh, became India's most famous athlete when he broke all world records for the longest run by a four year old. A few days after he was born his mother sold him to a slaver for 800 rupees. The man had agreed to raise and educate Buddhia, but the tune of the education sometimes bordered on torture. One day when Buddhia was misbehaving the man told him to go run in a field until he collapsed. 20 hours later Buddhia was still running laps and the man knew he had something special on his hands. A few weeks later he was sold to a local Judo coach and a legend was born.

The coach, Biranchi Das, has made a small fortune running Budhia across India and garnering all sorts of media attention. In May of this year the child entered into the Limca Book of World Records for a 65-kilometer run from Jagannath Temple to Bhubaneshwar. He was four years old.

Since his rise to fame there has been a surge in copycat child runners. Today the Deccan Chronicle has announced that a 10-year-old girl in Bhudia's hometown named Anastasia plans to run 110 kilometers and is seeking permission from the Orissa high court to waive objections that it could damage her health.

The run is scheduled for October 2nd, and assuming that she doesn't collapse half way through the race she will garner some sort of record.

But why are these children running in the first place? While it could be argued that they have some special physical abilities that could be honed and perfected, I think that it is more likely a way to make people money. The runs don't have the children's best interests in mind.

Budhia began life as a bonded laborer who was destined to be a house servant or manual laborer until the day he died. They discovered his extraordinary ability to run after what amounts to a torture session and yet we still cheer on his budding career. Human rights organizations have jumped on the case, but their arguments are that Budhia shouldn't be forced to run anymore--not that he shouldn't have been sold into slavery in the first place. I think they miss the point. Underneath the story of these child prodigies are tales of slavery that people don't want to talk about.

I have to wonder if the only way that a bonded laborer can escape the clutches of slavery is if they run.