Baby abandoned near BU Campus - True Story

September 1, 2008

Bangalore: He is just a day old and struggles to open his eyes. He’s placed under a tree at the Bangalore University campus. Flies and ants were swarming over him when he was found. The infant had been crying all the day but traffic noise drowned his cries.

A student, upon seeing the baby, informed people and soon a crowd gathered. But none came forward. It was only after Mala, a BU employee, with help from her colleagues, rushed the baby to the university health centre that the police were informed.

“I heard an abandoned baby had been found. I saw the baby shivering and ants crawling over him,” Mala said.

“After giving him first aid at the university health centre, we took him to Panacea Hospital,” she said. The baby weighs 2.8 kg and 20 inches long. A doctor said he has been admitted to the ICU and his condition is stable.

“The umbilical cord was still fresh when the baby was brought to the hospital. He came with some insect bites on his face and his blood sugar was low. We suspect damage to his cornea,” said Dr Niranjan, a pediatrician at the hospital.

Mala has been staying at the hospital since Friday looking after the baby.

“If his parents didn’t want him, they could have given him to an adoption centre instead of abandoning him. I was destined to take care of him, I think. I’ve two kids but I am not parting with this gift. I have named him Srinivas,” Mala said.

Panacea Hospital management said they will bear the treatment cost.

Dreams shattered, many Strugglers in Glamour Industry turn to Crime

Examples:
1) A budding scriptwriter snatches chains to meet his ailing mother's medical expenses.
2) Desperate for a car, a struggling actor forces his wife, also an actor, into prostitution.
3) The case of Rajesh (name changed), a small-time lyricist who was arrested by the Kandivli police on charges of chain-snatching on Sunday, highlighted a dark truth that many young Bollywood aspirants live with. Work in the film industry was elusive and Adagle needed money to pay for his ailing mother's medicines.

His is a story that many Bollywood aspirants or 'strugglers' identify with. Their big-screen dreams shattered, many take to crime to pay the rent or maintain expensive lifestyles to showcase themselves to filmmakers.

Those who have made it after years of struggle say - the main reason is the stress of maintaining the glamour quotient the industry demands. Newcomers often cannot handle the pressure; they drift towards crime to fulfil basic needs like paying the rent of a flat in Lokhandwala Complex. To get famous, people need to show off. For that, they need a constant flow of money. It is not a new phenomenon, but these days there have been more cases involving small-time actors.

The involvement of aspiring actors and models in crime was the result of "accumulative frustration". These people are not very successful; there is always a sense of insecurity. They take to crime thinking that they have been rejected by society. Moreover, once they get a taste of this 'glamour world', they don't want to come out. They would do anything to maintain their lifestyles.

Those who have been through the rejection and frustration on their road to stardom say the pressure is too much to handle. If you don't get to eat one meal a day, it's fine. But you need to wear designer clothes to get noticed. In a party, you have to buy a drink. Even if you stay in a rented house, you have to show off by travelling in a car and joining the best gym in the area. Often newcomers get used and are sucked into crime, often becoming victims themselves.