No, this has nothing to do with my love life. This has to do with my very many escapades in the public domain. The so-called 'real world' that everyone keeps yapping to me about. If you're someone with an attitude of 'things just won't change in this country', here's my two cents for you - if you won't change, don't expect others to do so either.
Let's take a look at teeny tiny issues first, before diving head first into the heavy duty stuff. I'm going to speak from experience here. There are buses in the city. Then you have your crowded buses. And then there are buses that move at 10kmph because of the number of human bodies stuffed into them. No, I'm not kidding. The bus I was in was the CAUSE of the traffic jam that was evolving behind us. You'd think that would be where the worst ends, but noooo. Yeh hai India meri jaan :).
So, you've got 10 people sitting in the place of 6, 8 people squeezed into the place of 5 and about 15 people hanging for dear life from the doors and windows adjacent to them. I've even seen boys as young as 10 and 11 climbing up the bars of the windows and squatting on them for lack of space in the bus. Ah, but does it stop there? Of course not! While you have your normal, average, everyday aam janta vying for space in a grossly overpopulated bus, you've got your abnormal, below average, perverted drunks vying for space to either grope you in all the wrong places or make salacious glances/ remarks towards your silhouette. And all the while, you've got obese old women yelling at you for being bony and ribbing them with your elbows. Yeah lady, it's MY fault you don't have space. It has absolutely NOTHING to do with the fact that you're taking up space meant for 3 people. Sure. Blame it all on the skinny girl. That makes sense.
But it's not all bad. You do get nice people on the roads. People who will let you cross the road in heavy traffic, people who will help a blind lady step over an open drain and even people who will stand up to cheap men who think women are supposed to be ogled at, undressed in their minds and 'appreciated' by being felt. Unfortunately, the moral police in our country will not commend this person for plucking up the courage and standing up for the woman. The questions that will arise in THEIR minds are things like - why did HE stand up for HER? What's going on between them? She must've provoked the men, otherwise why would they have acted that way?
On the same lines, I VERY recently came across a case involving a boy who lost his life, standing up for his girlfriend when certain other guys around her started eve teasing her by sending her salacious messages. Which makes one wonder, doesn't it? We have very sorry figures in male to female sex ratios, which means that people like this boy are vastly outnumbered by illiterate perverts. What impressed me above everything was the fact that this guy who stood up for his girlfriend was a minor whereas the people who eve teased her were, save three people, above 18 years of age. What sort of society are we living in when someone who is YOUNGER than the perpetrators, is more mature and civilized? To make matters worse, these young men stalked him, kidnapped his younger brother and used him as bait to get to the guy. When he showed up at the specified destination the group brutally assaulted him with metal rods and bamboo sticks. Despite the pitiful condition that he was in, when he tried to run, he was pelted with a brick to his head by someone who (as of now, reports say) was in his same class. The icing on the cake? This young boy was left to die in a pool of his own blood while the murderers ran away. As of when this post gets published, twelve people have been arrested, 3 of whom are minors.
In about 15 minutes' time, there will be a rally in support of bringing justice to these criminals and to create awareness about creating safer cities. I reiterate, if you're someone with an attitude of 'things just won't change in this country', here's my two cents for you - if you won't change, don't expect others to do so either. Don't blame 'society' for things that you can AS AN INDIVIDUAL can stand up for. Today it was this boy, tomorrow it could be your mother or sister or best friend or girl friend who gets treated this way, if you're brave enough to stand up for them , be brave enough for this boy. Join and support the cause.
Sources of information :
http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/12-including-three-minors-arrested-for-beating-college-student-to-death-199212
https://www.facebook.com/StandUp4AnshhAgarwal
Let's take a look at teeny tiny issues first, before diving head first into the heavy duty stuff. I'm going to speak from experience here. There are buses in the city. Then you have your crowded buses. And then there are buses that move at 10kmph because of the number of human bodies stuffed into them. No, I'm not kidding. The bus I was in was the CAUSE of the traffic jam that was evolving behind us. You'd think that would be where the worst ends, but noooo. Yeh hai India meri jaan :).
So, you've got 10 people sitting in the place of 6, 8 people squeezed into the place of 5 and about 15 people hanging for dear life from the doors and windows adjacent to them. I've even seen boys as young as 10 and 11 climbing up the bars of the windows and squatting on them for lack of space in the bus. Ah, but does it stop there? Of course not! While you have your normal, average, everyday aam janta vying for space in a grossly overpopulated bus, you've got your abnormal, below average, perverted drunks vying for space to either grope you in all the wrong places or make salacious glances/ remarks towards your silhouette. And all the while, you've got obese old women yelling at you for being bony and ribbing them with your elbows. Yeah lady, it's MY fault you don't have space. It has absolutely NOTHING to do with the fact that you're taking up space meant for 3 people. Sure. Blame it all on the skinny girl. That makes sense.
But it's not all bad. You do get nice people on the roads. People who will let you cross the road in heavy traffic, people who will help a blind lady step over an open drain and even people who will stand up to cheap men who think women are supposed to be ogled at, undressed in their minds and 'appreciated' by being felt. Unfortunately, the moral police in our country will not commend this person for plucking up the courage and standing up for the woman. The questions that will arise in THEIR minds are things like - why did HE stand up for HER? What's going on between them? She must've provoked the men, otherwise why would they have acted that way?
On the same lines, I VERY recently came across a case involving a boy who lost his life, standing up for his girlfriend when certain other guys around her started eve teasing her by sending her salacious messages. Which makes one wonder, doesn't it? We have very sorry figures in male to female sex ratios, which means that people like this boy are vastly outnumbered by illiterate perverts. What impressed me above everything was the fact that this guy who stood up for his girlfriend was a minor whereas the people who eve teased her were, save three people, above 18 years of age. What sort of society are we living in when someone who is YOUNGER than the perpetrators, is more mature and civilized? To make matters worse, these young men stalked him, kidnapped his younger brother and used him as bait to get to the guy. When he showed up at the specified destination the group brutally assaulted him with metal rods and bamboo sticks. Despite the pitiful condition that he was in, when he tried to run, he was pelted with a brick to his head by someone who (as of now, reports say) was in his same class. The icing on the cake? This young boy was left to die in a pool of his own blood while the murderers ran away. As of when this post gets published, twelve people have been arrested, 3 of whom are minors.
In about 15 minutes' time, there will be a rally in support of bringing justice to these criminals and to create awareness about creating safer cities. I reiterate, if you're someone with an attitude of 'things just won't change in this country', here's my two cents for you - if you won't change, don't expect others to do so either. Don't blame 'society' for things that you can AS AN INDIVIDUAL can stand up for. Today it was this boy, tomorrow it could be your mother or sister or best friend or girl friend who gets treated this way, if you're brave enough to stand up for them , be brave enough for this boy. Join and support the cause.
Sources of information :
http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/12-including-three-minors-arrested-for-beating-college-student-to-death-199212
https://www.facebook.com/StandUp4AnshhAgarwal
