Brave heart – You live on
What a sad way to end 2012
I woke up this morning with a bad headache which worsened looking at the headlines streaming across the social as well as print media. Yes I am referring to the 23 year old rape victim and now survivor who got gang raped in a gruesome manner and has brought the nation to a standstill because of her untimely death This is not a one off case and the bastardly act has touched the entire geo political landscape across India eons ago.
The idiot box and the social media is abuzz with demonstrations and RIP messages streaming across all spectrums for the Brave Heart ( Sad-we don’t even know her real name ) whose plight and misery due to the Rape resonates with the entire nation irrespective of class or caste standing shoulder to shoulder. The visual media may have gone a bit overboard with the emotional rhetoric but heck if that’s what it takes to make the white elephant dance … then so be it.
Spare a thought for the 23 year old rape survivor (I prefer the moniker- survivor instead of victim though she does not live to see the change) who would not live to see the dreams, live a fuller and a larger life because of some random beasts who decided to rob the girl of her modesty in the worst possible act in a grotesque manner. I feel gutted and shamed when I read the graphic details of the rape and it sends a shiver down my throat and entire being.
Rape is a culmination of many evils ( mis directed – fantasies, unwarranted anger, revenge and the father of all vices- alcohol) and society at large for the pre medieval thoughts and lack of education. Films which is the source of entertainment across the society plays an important role with the recent ones bordering on sexual objectification of heroines matched in no small measures by irrelevant, raunchy and double meaning lines passing off as songs which the public watches gleefully mis intrpretating it in objectionable ways. Some advertisements are provocative and disrespectful to women specifically the ones from the body deodorant industry plugging their sales making the female species an object of pursuit.
I am not the least surprised that any of our so called national icons ( the Great Sachin Tendulkar -for one who has been revered by millions for his prowess across the cricket field and a Rajya Sabha MP to boot does not have anything to say and if he speaks the nation will sit up and listen. Well let’s face it the country has lost faith in the political leadership and it’s the national icons who can speak a common language which will resonate with all.
It’s quite ironical and sad in a country like ours which is teething and seaming around the edges we worship women in the form of goddesses asking them to protect us from evil and they end up getting treated in the worst possible manner.
Yes on a wishful note – The laws may get amended, increased policing, fast track courts with a focus on resolution is set up and harsher punishments will be meted out to the offenders but the bottom line is as an individual don’t we have the right to life a free life without paying a heavy price for it.
Be the change you want to see.
11 comments:
Women are not an object to conquer by doing a dastardly act, not that we expect temples for worship, but you rightly said Shekhar, "the right to live a free life without paying a heavy price". Yes, be the change is important.
But as these changes is not something we will see overnight, we need empathy from the law makers and law protectors and get the right punishment for the offenders.
I'm proud to be born a women in the largest democracy in the world and hope we all feel much safer and secure sooner than later.
Its so sad to see that something so brutal had to take place to wake up the whole nation even though, in Kiran Bedi's words, "There is not a woman in India, including me, who has not suffered harassment in her life".
Everyone wants justice for this crime, police to make the society more secure, films/media to stop portraying women disrespectfully, women to dress less provocatively, etc. etc. But what about those men who committed such crimes in the past and got away and men who may commit such an act in future?? I definitely want to see them punished, but can any kind of punishment guarantee that it doesn't happen in future?
Will we have to raise our voices each time in this manner?
You said it all, Shekhar. I am not even in a mood to wish happy new year.
I feel the law makers have got nothing to do with this because had they been following rules we would have had a country without courts.But I call out to every individual being a part of the country to have some respect for self and other so as to not commit such crimes.The urge and anyway you name it might remain unchanged,but there are ways to channelise them and just not dump it on someone out of the blue.To be the change we must decide to change.
Totally agree shekhar......Its sure a sad way the fairer sex is treated across India....especially in the city which is supposed to be the capital of the country....Its highly Deplorable.
Of late the city has had the distinction of being worse than Bihar....I believe people have been carried away with the notion that power is all that they need to get away with anything....!!!
As quoted " Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely"
Its just that there should be a much stringent law that will make Rape a Non Bailable offence and with much greater consequences than just some years in prision.....!! It must be either Capital punishment / Life in prision without the possibility of getting out....ever..!!!!
Well written shekhar... however looking at the way policies are implemented in our country (looks great on paper only) the issue has to be tackled at grass root level.In peoples homes and daily lives where an awareness is created for children and ignorant adults to respect women/girls and are not shown as object of beautification and daily chores.
It will make a huge difference if our National icons like Sachin Tendulkar come out and speak about it, as they are looked upon as great National Heroes. Steps have to be taken to educate people and the laws.I feel the change has to start from our own homes,schools,colleges etc. On one hand while the country is angered by this incident on the other hand more rapes are taking place across the country. That's irony of it all.
Totally agree with you Shekhar, especially the one about "be the change you want to be" .. as I read on some other blog: "There is a lesson for men and their families as well - they should learn to respect women around them and not treat them as idols of pleasure. It is not too long when women might lose respect for men as well"
I feel a large part of this is attributable to the restrictiveness that the society casts. While the outlook has changed of late, by the large, there is a lot of inhibition when it comes to speaking out and there's not much awareness as well. The more open we are about things, the need to resort to such beastly acts would probably lessen. the media just throws around words about reforms and all that jazz- the real change we need is openness of mind. Change in the law may not help as much as a change in attitude and for that - we need an open mind.
Brave-heart she is, it our turn to ensure that her fight for survival, her right to live a decent life, her might with which she fought death, has not gone in vain. The administration will do its bit either today or tomorrow, but act, they must. Let's think about how we can contribute positively to this, may be in a small measure to start with, but start, we must.
Shekhar, A rape is a rape is a rape. But it has taken a horrendous act to make the whole nation to sit up and take notice. All these couch watchers say that this is all the fault of women and you will be surprised that a large section of women agree to this. When ever this has happened with the girls, the women of the house would suppress the issue and castigate the victims and shame them. Don't you remember how Lord Ram put Sita to go through Agni Pariksha. Nothing has changed since then. No doubt there are ripples of change but it is going to take another "yug" to bring about earth shaking change. And what is happening to the little children, Shekhar? Where are we heading to? In a decade or two there won't be a word called "innocence".
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