Sometimes you have to let go to realise if you had something worth holding on to.
~Anonymous
Sunday, January 06, 2008
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Happy new year???
Take 1: Somewhere in Mumbai
Take 2: Somewhere in Kochi
It is becoming the usual way India celebrates the arrival of a new year. It happened on New Year’s eve in 2006 – it happened on New Year’s eve in 2007 - it happened when Dhoni and his men brought the T-20 World Cup home - it happened when the new year was rung in yesterday. No - I am not talking about celebrations – I am talking about molestation of women. On one of the news channel debates, a police chief had to say that the women were at fault – they were in an inebriated state – they were inappropriately dressed to be walking on a road – they "invited trouble" for themselves.
I am amazed at the double standards, which exist for a man, and for a woman in the Indian society. Good girls stay at home on New Years eve and the "fun" ones hang around and ring in the new year with their friends at one of the million parties in one of those discos. Doesn’t a city belong to a woman? Doesn’t she have the right to celebrate the New Years eve in any manner she wants? Doesn’t she have the right to join the procession in Mumbai, which welcomed Team India after their win in South Africa? Does a woman have to play the role of a moral science teacher to a man at every stage of life? Can’t a man decide and stick to his morals for himself? Does she always have to be a victim of the stereotypes of few stifled minds, which define the ideal decent behaviour for a girl?
Shame on the police who eat the tax payer’s money to protect the citizens – men and women – and then leave the women of the society to take care of themselves. They say a society without a conscience gets a police without a conscience – I guess we are getting what we deserve at some level. Somehow even the most developed and safe country cannot boast of a safe terrain for a lady – whether we decide to do something about it or just shake our head for a while and move on in life – that is an individual's choice.
Take 2: Somewhere in Kochi
It is becoming the usual way India celebrates the arrival of a new year. It happened on New Year’s eve in 2006 – it happened on New Year’s eve in 2007 - it happened when Dhoni and his men brought the T-20 World Cup home - it happened when the new year was rung in yesterday. No - I am not talking about celebrations – I am talking about molestation of women. On one of the news channel debates, a police chief had to say that the women were at fault – they were in an inebriated state – they were inappropriately dressed to be walking on a road – they "invited trouble" for themselves.
I am amazed at the double standards, which exist for a man, and for a woman in the Indian society. Good girls stay at home on New Years eve and the "fun" ones hang around and ring in the new year with their friends at one of the million parties in one of those discos. Doesn’t a city belong to a woman? Doesn’t she have the right to celebrate the New Years eve in any manner she wants? Doesn’t she have the right to join the procession in Mumbai, which welcomed Team India after their win in South Africa? Does a woman have to play the role of a moral science teacher to a man at every stage of life? Can’t a man decide and stick to his morals for himself? Does she always have to be a victim of the stereotypes of few stifled minds, which define the ideal decent behaviour for a girl?
Shame on the police who eat the tax payer’s money to protect the citizens – men and women – and then leave the women of the society to take care of themselves. They say a society without a conscience gets a police without a conscience – I guess we are getting what we deserve at some level. Somehow even the most developed and safe country cannot boast of a safe terrain for a lady – whether we decide to do something about it or just shake our head for a while and move on in life – that is an individual's choice.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)