Children’s rights activist Kailash Satyarthi

Feast your ears on listener Bidhan Chandra Sanyal’s “My Hero” essay. All it takes is a little click on the “Play” button above! Hello everyone!This week on The Sound Kitchen, you’ll hear a “My Hero” essay by listener Bidhan Chandra Sanyal from West Bengal, India.  I hope you’ll be inspired to write an essay for us, too!If your essay goes on the air, you’ll find a package in the mail from The Sound Kitchen. Write in about your “ordinary” heroes – the people in your community who are doing extraordinarily good work, quietly working to make the world a better place, in whatever way they can. As listener Pramod Maheshwari said: “Just as small drops of water can fill a pitcher, small drops of kindness can change the world.”I am still looking for your “This I Believe” essays, too. Tell us about the principles that guide your life … what you have found to be true from yourvery own personalexperience. Or write about a book that changed your perspective on life, a person who you admire, festivals in your community, your most memorable moment, and/or your proudest achievement. If your essay is chosen to go on-the-air – read by you – you’ll win a special prize!Send your essays to thesoundkitchen@rfi.frOr by postal mail, to:Susan OwensbyRFI – The Sound Kitchen80, rue Camille Desmoulins92130 Issy-les-MoulineauxFranceI look forward to hearing from you soon!Here's Bidhan Chandra Sanyal’s essay: Hello, I am Bidhan Chandra Sanyal from West Bengal, India. Today I would like to share with you the story of a man whom I greatly admire, Kailash Sharma.Kailash Sharma was born on January 11, 1954, in Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh, India.  He is an electrical engineer by profession, but he did not work as an engineer – instead, he engaged in social service work.Appalled by the plight of child slavery across South Asia, in 1980 Sharma founded Bachpan Bachao Andolan – the Save Childhood Movement – to fight against the evil of child labor and slavery which has been socially accepted and widely practised in the region for generations.As the saying goes: "The farmer's child or the king's potter all have work in this world."  But a child's work should be tailored to children, in the home.Far too often, harsh reality takes them on another path. Disrespect, neglect or severe rule towards children are not right. When a child is forced to take the lead in financial hardship, ...