Chocolate
He sat on the sofa with a soft thud and started unwrapping the bar of chocolate that he held in his hand. After a long, tiring day at work, that too under the scorching sun, it was quite natural that he was absolutely exhausted.
Few people knew that Pankaj enjoyed having chocolate. He too kept it a secret. Even though chocolates are an excellent source of glucose and an awesome stress-buster, loving them are considered a girly thing. And Pankaj was not interested in being teased for it. Thank you!
He took a small bite off the bar when suddenly a voice spoke up behind him.
"You like the taste, sir?" It asked, startling Pankaj.
As far as he remembered, he was alone in the house with one of his room-mate, Vineet being on leave to visit his family and other, Nikhil being stuck at the Bureau to complete some paperwork.
Slowly, Pankaj turned around and was shocked to see a dark-skinned boy of 8-9 years standing behind him. He grinned when he saw Pankaj staring at him.
"You like the taste, sir?" He asked again.
"H-how did you get in?" Pankaj could not stop himself from asking. "The house was locked."
"You brought me here sir?" Said the little boy, his grin intact on his face.
Pankaj wanted to ask something else but he found the boy staring at the bar of chocolate. The CID Officer's sharp eyes didn't miss the bruises that covered the child's body.
"You want some?" He asked, forwarding the bar towards him.
"No sir. I like sweet things. Not bitter ones." He said as he shook his head.
"This is a milk chocolate. The sweetest possible thing in the whole world." Pankaj said, surprised.
"What is a choco-choco…." The child fumbled with the word as if hearing it for the very first time.
"…chocolate." Pankaj completed for him. He was surprised that the boy was absolutely clueless about chocolates.
"It's gotta be the weirdest thing in the world." Pankaj thought. "I've never heard of a child who hasn't heard of chocolates, let alone not love it."
He went forward and knelt in front of the child, who took a few steps back in fear.
"I-I'm sorry sir if I made any mistake." He said covering his eyes with his hands thinking that the man in front of him was about to hit him.
"Hey, relax! Relax! I'm not gonna do anything." Said Pankaj. "How did you get these wounds?" He asked in a kind voice.
"I failed to carry out my master's order so he punished me." Said the boy, timidly.
"Master?" Asked Pankaj, confused.
"Yes sir. He owns a farm in our country, Ghana. We grow pods there. Big, brown fruits. We call them cocoa." The kid showed him the size of the pods with his hands to emphasize his point.
"Here, have it." Said Pankaj, offering the kid a big chunk.
The boy looked at the piece and back at Pankaj, who encouraged him to take it with a nod and a smile. The boy took the piece from his hand and took a small bite.
"Wow! This is sweet!" He exclaimed, his face glowing with happiness. It melted Pankaj's heart.
"As sweet as you." He said, lightly pinching the boy's cheek. The boy looked up at him, staring into his eyes with his big, black ones.
"My parents used to say that." He said sadly.
Pankaj mentally kicked himself for ruining the child's happiness.
"Don't they say it now?" He asked.
"I don't stay with them anymore sir." Said the boy.
"Why?" Asked a curious Pankaj.
"I was five when this man came to our village and told my parents that I can support my family with my income. I would just have to do gardening and in return our employer would give us food, clothes and a place to stay besides wages. So, the next day me and my elder brother came to the farm with the man." Explained the child.
"Oh! So you live with your brother?" Asked Pankaj.
"I've got many brothers working at the farm along with me sir." Said the kid after a few moments of silence, which made Pankaj think that something was wrong.
"What happened to your brother?" He asked.
"Dead." Said the boy looking at Pankaj, his pain reflecting in his eyes, yet there was no tears. It made the officer think that maybe death wasn't such a rare experience in the child's life after all. But before he could say anything the boy started speaking once again.
"My brother injured himself while cutting grass with a machete. The wound got infected. But our master isn't someone who wastes money on doctors. We treated my brother's wound with medicines that we made from herbs." Said the child.
"Does your parents know?" Asked Pankaj.
"I don't know sir. We gardeners are not supposed to stay in touch with the outside world sir." Said the child.
Then to Pankaj's horror, the child started tugging at his shirt. "Will you please take me to my parents sir? Please sir?" He begged.
Suddenly the tugging grew even more intense with someone calling out Pankaj's name.
"Pankaj! Wake up!" Said the voice shaking him by his shoulders.
Slowly, he opened his eyes to see Nikhil standing in front of him. Pankaj looked around and realized that he was so tired that he had fallen asleep on the sofa, the bar of chocolate still clutched in his hand.
A/N: Friends, those who think that the child was somewhat absurd and such a child doesn't actually exist please read this one.
There are children who are slaves to the chocolate industry. They are so controlled and abused that many do not even know what chocolate is or what it tastes like. In places like Ghana and the Ivory Coast, where 60 percent of the world's cocoa is produced, illegal child labor is carried out on a daily basis. Some children have parents who are cocoa farmers, but others are trafficked and forced into a life tending the fields.
The estimated 500,000 child slaves working in the cocoa fields live in depressing conditions. Often orphaned or homeless, they are smuggled by force or by promises of a better life. The children are so small that many tasks can't be done without injury, like cutting grass with a machete.
No one is taking full responsibility—the government blames the cocoa industry, while the cocoa industry blames the government. Proposed legislation to guarantee slave-labor-free final products was shot down after intense pressure from industry giants. Horrifyingly, a BBC undercover journalist discovered that even when a chocolate bar is stamped with the Fairtrade seal of approval, there may still be child labor occurring during production.
Last but not the least, I think this is a story that needed to be told.