Rebella: The Brave Girl, A Story by M. Vaishnavi

In this post we bring you a story written by M.V. Vaishnavi, inspired by the recently concluded workshop on Performing Arts

Rebella: The Brave Girl

The children of a school made a play about child labor that involved the story of a little girl named Rebella. She is the only child to her widowed mother and also the only ray of hope for happiness ahead. Her mother wanted Rebella to get well educated and secure a job. As they were poor they could not afford the school fee. She herself decided to work as a child laborer, so that she could go to school in the morning and work in the evening hours and convinced her mother.

          This went on well for a year. They struggled with extreme poverty. At last, they moved to a city with the money they saved throughout the year, so that Rebella could go to a higher standard and her mother can work in a nearby factory. Everything was looking up.

          In the factory where Rebella's mother was working, there was a huge demand for child labour. So Rebella decided to work there in the weekends. Her employer was so greedy that he kidnapped the children and sold them as slaves. The same situation was been faced by Rebella. Her illiterate mother didn't know where to go in search of her. She doesn't even know whom to meet. So, she went to her employer for help. He was scared seeing her determination to find her daughter. He decided to kill the widowed mother. He pretended to help her in order to find out where she stayed. Then he sent his men to kill her, but she wasn’t at home.

All this while, Rebella was tortured mercilessly as she refused to listen to them. She was strongly determined to save herself and the other children who had been kidnapped. The same night her mother was moving around the factory in search of her. With the help of other children, she planned an escape from kidnappers. On the back of sheer grit, and street-smartness, they were able to escape.

             Finally they came out of the place where they were kept hidden. As soon they came out for help. On their way to police station, Rebella found her mother. They filed a case against the employer who was employing child labor and exploiting, kidnapping and trafficking these children. Rebella was awarded a prize for her great determination and she was also given cash price that would help her to get good education. Rebella grew up and secured a job as lawyer and worked against child labor. This mysterious incident changed her life drastically but it also leads to her finding her passion and purpose in life.

-M.V. Vaishnavi

  B.Sc 2nd yr