AILS OF THE MIND-WITH PERTINENCE TO WOMEN’S SAFETY

Diffused lights shimmered in through the windows. The frequency of traffic in the city cannot be seen to decrease until it is around twelve in the night. Busy world. People with their busy lives hurry across to meet their ends. Everything for the sole reason of happiness and satisfaction. But truths stretch beyond the the petty human desire to attain the perfect ecstacy in life. Fate plays an imminent role in framing our lives and most often more than what we ourselves contribute. The marks we attain, the career we set up, the food we prepare and the things we own, all of it can be lost if fate wants it to be lost. And we are given no thought, choice or chance. Birth and death are a matter of minutes or rather seconds. Life is a miracle happening between both. Human beings are given the rationality, the thinking power which places them different from animals. However, the irony of today’s situation is that animals act more sensibly than men. They exhibit the power to reason out things well much above the ordinary men. In keeping with the shastras and traditions that govern the everyday life of common people, it is quite easy for us to comment on the general attitude of the pious and orthodox men in leading the ceremonial practices and rituals. However reality quite often flashes before our eyes by which we are able to see that many of them do not do what they profess. This fact proves to be one of the primary causes which affect the happenings around the world. Misconceptions regarding the value and meaning of life need to be wiped out. All of us ideally would like to have value-oriented joy filled satisfactory life. But the clause ‘value-oriented’ is often overlooked upon as the busy world supplies us with no time to instill values along with career-based narrow-visioned knowledge that we are thrust with in our educational institutions. The capacities of the human mind are vast and admirable. Once it has been set in the right the right stream, the pressing problem of distinguishing between the right and the wrong will be solved. Indeed, it will be surprising and pleasurable to watch the interesting changes it will bring about in their attitudes.

                                                  Men and women form the two components which along with nature survive on this earth. All the three religious texts speak of the multiple ways in which Man had been created by God and the events that followed. However, one fundamental conclusion which can be drawn from these ancient, medieval and contemporary explanations is that He must have had infinite purposes in mind while creating man, women and nature. They were to mutually respect one another and exist. The fact that it was not possible for one to exist without the other needs to be inscribed in humans of the age because the activities they are engaged in make us known of the bare truth that  they seem to be unaware of this. As the ages passed by men and women grew alongside their social, political, economical prejudices. Of all these one of the perceived misconceptions is that of WOMEN BEING INFERIOR TO MEN. As seasons change, so does nature, people, mindsets and the world. Somewhere during this process, this too might have cropped up and persisted its way through generations. However, the hard truth is that this ever-propagated ideology still exists magnified as never before.

                                                                  Atrocities committed to women unspeakable to the bare ear are not unheard of. Dowry deaths, rapes, female infanticides, honour killings and the list is endless. The so called ‘all powerful’ men being responsible for this managed to shove off the punishment they deserve. The reason as to why they involve in these offences; whether it is to derive the sadistic pleasure by inflicting pain upon somebody or to establish the stereotyped belief of men being physically superior; it still remains unknown. The most recent example is the issue of the Delhi brave heart where in the cruel and barbaric act of 6 inhuman creatures and the protests and uprising that followed was made known to the world. The question that ought to be raised is that if this incident could stir up such a dire reaction from the responsible Indian citizens, why is it that all of them don’t realize that a girl is t be respected and not insulted??? If the Delhi Police Force could be summoned to counter the protests in such large numbers where were they on the fateful night of 16^{th December}??? All of these can just be posed but not given a proper answer to because the solution is A LONG TERM ONE.  

India is a democratic nation. It literally means that India shall have a government ruled by the people and for the people. The framers of our constitution had all these concepts in mind while writing down the preamble of the Indian Republic. All of these facts are taught and ingrained during schooling then why does it take a brutal rape or assault for Indians to realise that that women are also HUMAN???

No stringent punishment or longwinding protests are an answer to this subsisting problem. The sense of humanity should come from within. The ability to distinguish between the right and wrong should be planted at the time of childhood. The innate responsibility of a man to respect a woman should not be dictated but be executed by man himself without any outside advice. Value based education deeply rooted in our own culture and tradition should be imparted rather than job-oriented knowledge. Our epics , The Bible, The Vedas, The Quran contain the true moral and ethical ways and beliefs of life. The true way of living imbibing the importance of the interdependence of man woman and nature ought to be taught alongwith academics. India can no longer continue as a developed as well as culturally, morally, and tradionally rich country if this ever-existing problem is to remain. Enlightened citizenship and responsible leadership is the need of the hour. The issue of the Delhi braveheart where the girl fought for her life most courageously and admirably is an eye-opener for all of us. Her death should not go in vain. Rise and stand up for justice. Rest not till your goal has been achieved. "Indians.....WAKE UP!!! OPEN YOUR EYES AND SAVE YOUR SISTERS ....!!!!! IT IS WHAT OUR MOTHER NATION NEEDS RIGHT NOW...!!!" 

                                                                                                                                      Jai Hind.

A Day in Memory

Cramming stale bread into my mouth, hands busy pushing my phone inside I ran out of the gate. The weight of my bag was cutting into my shoulders. Gritting my teeth and trying to finish my ‘breakfast’ I rushed along , amidst noisy and irritable traffic. I slowed down once I reached the French institute, my usual spot where I recognised that I still had five solid minutes to reach college. I allowed the dense sunlight to wash my face as I let out my breath and relaxed a bit. It was the year end. I had no major things to worry about then. All assignments completed and handed over now we just had the impending exams waiting.

Distracted by a small noise, I turned round to see a girl about three to four years of age, tugging onto her mother’s saree pointing at the cotton candy kept nearby. She had jet black hair, neatly plaited on both sides laid with orange flowers which deeply contrasted with her blue uniform. Her mother got a real big candy and passed it down to her. She greeted it with a wide smile which made her even more cute with one teeth jutting out re positioning the others. She tagged along sucking at it and watching her mother devotedly. Somehow, her innocent eyes took me around ten years back.

Impatiently stamping my foot, I glanced worriedly at the clock in my drawing room. Amma came along carrying my lunch bag shouting that she will be back in a few minutes. She met my indignant stare with a watery smile and we set out to school me holding the bottle. I was eager to make her known to the most exciting things happening in my school. The school captain had been elected and what more it was someone I KNEW! My tiffin gave a dangerous wobble as I jumped around shaking my head, chattering loudly to the perfect nods of my mother. Sometimes, she irritably engaged herself in tightening my pony or straightening the creases of my already well-ironed skirt while I was going on about the way Rohit snatched Sanju’s notebook and threw it at Lakshmi’s head. We had almost reached the house with a big furry black dog who always gave a threatening growl at the sight of anybody. While ranting out my innocent worries, I suddenly felt something press hard on my head. My mother uttered a little scream and the bystanders gave out a silent laugh. A crow had sat on my head, pressed its claws and flown away at the sound produced by Amma.  I slowly, touched my hair eyes wide with shock. Stifling her laugh with difficulty, she soothingly brushed my hair and led me along after which I was silent partly due to shock and partly, wonder.

A firm utterance of my name brought me back to my present senses, also to face one of the worst luck you can ever have in your academic life. I stood up, having absolutely no idea of what exactly the teacher had inquired, let alone the response I was supposed to give. Snide remarks complimented by harsh glares followed and I heaved a sigh of relief as one of the nightmares of our department walked out muttering curses for students who oddly resembled ‘lazy idiots’ in her dictionary. Waking my pal, who had dozed off and was blissfully unaware of the scene that had just taken place, we trudged along to the Auditorium programmed for the installation of the new Senate. Ninety minutes of report reading fairly good enough to put a human, who has already slept for ten hours the previous night, to sleep was staged under the shade of the pomp and pride of the not-so-good institution of ours, introduced to us by an emotionally hysterical principal. Susan’s head dropped onto my shoulder as she drooled on. I gave a dangerous yawn and immediately one of those annoying committee members warned me not to sleep.  Scowling, I folded my hands and stared at the stage.

But here, instead of seeing the white clad student leaders led by the little devil on earth, I saw a different auditorium, and on it, fourteen captains, just fourteen, with their badges and sashes, ready to give up for the next set. My glasses glinted in the yellow light along with the badge pinned onto the collar of my short. This had been my pride, my identity for the one year which had thrust me with experiences each of which taught me a valuable lesson in life. My group, my Ganga house had been my goal which had successfully emerged out tonnes of sweat and toil. Placing my badge on the plate, I saluted my school and walked out with my companions realizing with a slight pang that despite all the pains and hardships endured during the past year, somewhere in my mind I still felt , I will miss it.

Walking back to class, my friend stopped to have tea, her last solution to avoid sleeping and I walked along in my trance. She pulled at my little finger and I glanced at her widely, passionately. She made me sit, doubtful expressions lining her face. How could she not because her gesture made me slip maybe, just a few months back.

We had not seen each other. Or I will rephrase it. We had not seen each other after knowing each other so much. My heart was in my mouth when I saw him grinning at a distance with the same naughty twinkle in his eyes. It had been a day worth reliving, where we walked shoulder to shoulder, finding pleasure in the smallest of things, talking, breaking all the rules of normal conversation, words tumbling over one another due to excitement. Places, situations, people and the whole wide world did not matter as long as we were with one another. He tugged at my little finger pulling me into the game store, with a wink. I smiled mischief evident in my finest weapon and his greatest weakness...

Chennai does have moderately pleasant breezes, in fact, one of it just blew across my face as I closed my eyelids and allowed it to whiz past. Opening them, I saw her at a distance. The only gift I had inherited from my school to my college in the same proportions. She hurried along, the familiar anxiety drowning her beautiful features. Evidently, her project on Dyslexia had not reached up to the mark and was dissatisfied about it. Complaining loudly, we walked along busy roads and irritable traffic. A day of past, no, maybe a few days or events of the past, had intervened in my dull and uneventful procession of degree completion in a city far from my loved ones. I sighed to myself and smiled at the thought of the memories in my life, worth reminiscing about. Looking up I saw the accusing stare of my best soul. Apparently, my expression had not been in tune with the news she had just proclaimed. Quickly clearing my throat I nodded fervently replacing the grin with a frown, our static mood almost at every moment spent in My College.