As young people face growing social pressure to have children, an anti-natal movement has gained traction in India. The collective urges people not to procreate, citing a strain on the world's resources and a myriad of children already waiting to be adopted. Some supporters call the campaign the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement (VHEM), while others prefer the blunt title Stop Making Babies.
27-year-old Raphael Samuel hails from Mumbai, and the Nihilanand Facebook page, which posts a plethora of anti-natal memes. One caption reads "A good parent puts the child above its wants and needs but the child itself is a want of the parent," with the hashtag #parentsarehypocrites. Another one states: "Existence requires work and which sane person enjoys working? Stop breeding." And a third asks, "Isn't forcing a child into this world and then forcing it to have a career kidnapping and slavery?"
In an interview with The Print, Samuel said he plans to sue his parents for bringing him into the world without it. However, that doesn't mean he doesn't like them. "I love my parents, and we have a great relationship," he asserted. "But they had me for their joy and their pleasure. My life has been amazing, but I don't see why I should put another life through the rigmarole of school and finding a career, especially when they didn't ask to exist."
The group is holding their first ever national meeting on February 10 in Bengaluru. (And I assume that at the same time, their parents will hold a separate meeting, to weep over not getting any grandkids.) "Everyone is aware of how much we suffer in life," stated fellow anti-natalist Alok Kumar. "I thought about whether our world was a conducive place for bringing children up, and I decided it would be better not to have a child."
"We don't want to impose our beliefs on anyone, but more people need to consider why having a child in the world right now isn't right," said another activist, Pratima Naik, who created the Facebook page Childfree India. Last month, he wrote a passionate message, urging people to seriously reconsider making babies.
"Should we continue to bring more children in this world and accelerate the process of environmental and social degradation?" asked Naik. "Do you think existence is pain, and not bringing a child into this world, is a guaranteed way to avoid unnecessary suffering to the child? We are a group of people who have decided not to reproduce. We are Childfree Indians!"
To quote a line from Shakespeare's King Lear: "How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is to have a thankless child." And to quote a line from DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince's He's The DJ, I'm The Rapper: "Parents just don't understand." Can you really sue your parents for bringing you into the world without your consent? There's only one way to find out - get a lawyer!
