Born to work

Born to Work: Child Labour in India is a disturbing book. It is based on first-hand field investigations carried out in the pottery industry and brassware, gem polishing, lock-making and glass factories. Utilizing data collected under adverse and even hostile conditions, in defiance of the Mafia-like organizations that shield industries exploiting child labour from the gaze of the outside world, Neera Burra describes the working conditions of these children. It emerges that a large number of children as young as five or six years work through the night under great health and safety hazards. Workplace trauma is widespread, stunting the growth of these children both physically and mentally. The author contends that these appalling practices are rampant in India, and that state policies aimed at protecting children are poorly conceived and badly enforced. Illustrated with photographs taken under very difficult conditions, this thoroughly-documented study provides hard evidence of widespread abuse and exploitation.

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Nonfiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.