Let The Dream Be Safe

“We lost more than a valuable life; we lost a Dream.” The President of India, Republic Day speech.

This while another valuable life, another dream was being ripped to shreds in Faridabad. The moral compass definitely has lost direction.

When a heinous crime like Rape takes place, it is important for the Govt., the party in power to stand up and feel the pulse of the public. Action should be prompt and punishment bone-chilling. Castration or no castration,the punishment should bring shivers down the spine of every Lecher so that the crime is not repeated. People vote and choose their representatives for a better future. It’s the responsibility of these representatives to work towards the betterment of our lives of which safety, especially that of women, is of utmost importance. Safeguarding women is not only the responsibility of our men in general and leaders in particular but also an important element of the moral code of a civilised society. We, unfortunately are facing the worst form of moral topsy-turvydom,against which the civil society did stand up to fight but ,as always,the hope of change is minimal.

 It has been more than a month now when ‘the brave heart’ breathed her last to awake India against the most deadly crime. Tempers reached the boiling point and the youth especially the fairer sex vowed to bring Change. Candle light protests, clichéd statements, aggressive rhetorics, hackeneyed responses! It all happened in and around the power corridors of the Capital. We cried and we trembled, but for crying loud, we do that after every such incident. The major disappointment however was the foot in mouth attitude of our leaders. Most of the politicians  and so called godmen forgot to keep a civil tongue in their heads and did not miss a chance of being in the limelight.  The statements were offensive and spoke volumes about the people sitting on the power seats. Hopeless. 

Anyway,amidst this outrage and stupidity, my point of argument is something else. If and when an abominable crime like rape takes place, I, like many others would love to see the criminal going down the gallows but as a responsible and awakened citizen I would love it more if such incidents donot take place at all. During the month of December 2012, the newsrooms were abuzz of the dos and donts and so were the social networking sites. It was disappointing to see the intelligensia being  unexpectedly adamant about the ‘Freedom’ of girls. I appreciate the Messiah Passion these people have but none of them spoke frankly, genuinely and directly. One should be brave enough to act according to one’s belief and not just speak to earn browny points.

Firstly I find it belittling when we relate a woman’s Freedom to her sense of dressing. At a particular age, we all love to dress up in glad rags and try our best to look like bollywood divas. Call it a girl’s sense of fashion or even her desire to which she is entitled but for God’s sake donot call it her ‘Sense of Freedom’. Tut-Tut, I disagree! A woman has not to be nude to be free. When you impress upon the fact that our girls should wear whatever they want to, you don’t support them,you don’t genuinely think about their safety but you mislead them as you ignore the nature of the society we live in.As goes  an adage, In Rome do as Romans do.  As a woman I too would love to see the female folk free and doing whatever they want to,but how long does one turn a blind eye to the reality. The harsh reality that stares back at each one of us inspite of our denial.  While encouraging young girls to fight for their dignity,the one genuinely concerned should also not  forget to tell them that their Bollywood idols donot travel in local Trains/Buses, where one is surrounded by tens and hundreds of lecherous eyes. Of what use is freedom if it leads to victimisation. This is neither misogyny nor backwardness but the real picture of the world we are a part of. We are not civilised enough to protect our girls. Say it loud and clear,because it is easy to speak in an urban newsroom and look like an open minded debater but all our girls donot have access to urban quarters, the fact that cannot be ignored. Reality check. The nature of the society we live in suggests that our girls should be clear and definite and able to work out their own salvation. Not to forget, discretion is the better part of valour. We might have a boastful attitude of living in the world’s largest democracy but practically it is not possible for a girl travelling in a local train to drag every lecher by his collar and teach him a lesson. Come off it people, as much as we pressurise the Govt. to have strict laws against the crime the need of an hour also is to tell our girls to play it safe. The approach should be genuine and the movement canalised. My point is not to restrict girls so that they are left  behind men in their respective fields. I repeat,nudity has nothing to do with freedom. There are better ways of making your mark, making your presence felt. Its time to claim back your honour girls!

The other part of the newsroom debating that is rather funny is intellectuals actually discussing how Bollywood should function.Whether the zero-sized and curvaceous ladies should dance around the trees, the way they do, or not!  Sense of humour,hanh! We may find it hard to accept again but the fact is Bollywood is a different world altogether. Even in their skimpiest possible clothes, they are better human beings. Bollywood girls, I believe are the safest in India in their zone, so let us just leave them alone. Yes,we can have certain things banned  and all but please donot bracket them all together.It is their bread and butter and let’s not make them a target of our inefficient governance and impractical attitude. It’s for us to be sane,to be  practical and disconnect our daily life from cinema dreams. It is the responsibility of parents,teachers and the civil-society to lecture about the importance of moral values and to make better men and women out of young boys and girls. Change has never been a result of a blame-game. Change is a response to will and hardwork,and ofcourse a result of genuine concern.We all are hopeful that times will change and someday we will be surrounded by civilised people only so that every girl can live her dream without having  that fear of getting victimised. But for the time being the primary concern should be their safety for which the nature of the society we live in cannot be ignored. Every word spoken on the National television has an impact so let these words be genuine and let the concern be pure.