Waking up to Rape

Some thoughts on the outcry against Rape. 

If you want to reinforce your thoughts for public capital punishment, please don't read any further. Fast track courts and strict punishment are fine but there is more to it than these simplistic issues. Imo media gets distracted to these issues because they build up ratings and any human with half a brain can associate with these.  

Crimes generally are not premeditated and happen in haste - punishment as a proactive action is like the fallacy of how morality can't be achieved without religion. So what are the deeper issues we have to address - first we have to recognize who we are and where are we? I will start with broad demarcation of people in India into 3 segments. This is especially relevant to subtle cultural, ethical and moral issues. 

1. The Learned - People who are aware of morality of different issues not because they are punishable or are assumed to be bad or are preached to be so but because they internalize them. They prefer introspection before judgement.
2. The Educated - Oh! i know it is bad or good because god/mama/teacher/law says so! In most cases they have a high intersection with hypocrites and display dubious behavior when it comes to morality concerning them. The bunch doesn't invest much time in understanding the deeper issues but are rather happy in their cocoon of notions - find them sharing shallow issues on Facebook or the Quora pseudo-intellectuals who just upvote rhetoric because it is kill-bill ballsy, angry rant without addressing any real issue.
3. Who don't know any better - who are shaped by the environment which didn't actively discouraged people from engaging in a particular immoral behavior. Genetically as such, we have been programmed to differentiate right from wrong - it has been proven. It is the environment which shapes us and sways us one way or the other on different issues.

The steps to shape a better society for each segment are different. In short the learned have to lead, the educated have to introspect and the Don't knows have to be lead. 
The learned have to lead - so much more tougher than writing a Quora post.
Where to start for the learned? 

• Looking at a bigger picture helps, taking some time out of the rat race. Lead with social causes and things which are bigger than a pay-cheque or iphone. No time, no nearby available place to contribute - well i have the same excuse but we got to start someplace!

• I am mad and i won't take it anymore! Shake up the system and the educated hypocrites: Be vocal, be mad and do something. Tired of people going on with their BS, well stop sugar coating and give it back to the hypocrites. I am improving at this and so this rant!

• Rise from what will look good towards what is right. Recognize issues beyond state/culture boundaries and accept weakness in particular areas and try to address those issues. for ex: I am a Punjabi who recognizes the cultural deprivation of youth in this generation - be it drugs, blatant eve teasing as a right, obnoxious entertainment industry, irresponsibility when it comes to social, financial issues and don't represent Punjab only as the land of large hearted people and a supposedly prosperous state.

Now coming to the second segment -
The Educated have to brought out of their cocoon. India as it is might make a stake to have the highest population-percentage of self-righteous hypocrites and self-indulgent parasites in the world - be it religion, culture, morality, politics, policy and human behavior. Now i know it is a problem of a third-world country but something in our culture makes us more predisposed to these issues. IMO, this has gotten only rampant with the advent of commercialism and sensationalism oriented media. Sreshti Verma has made some very relevant points for bringing cultural and moral change in society, especially relevant to these educated people - who are either hang the bastards or this is the way it is! To them eve teasing and maladjusted attitude towards sex, freedom is not as heinous as rape and not an issue at all! Oh i am just bullshitting, it is fun, not raping anybody! Human dignity is trivial when it comes to subtle issues.
So where can we start for the educated? 

• Education reform in schools and in private - focus on how we ought to live more than how to making a living. Actively engaging in taboo topics - they become taboo for a reason - socially relevant but considered bad dinner conversations.

• Clear policy making and advocacy for freedom as fundamental rights so that people can come and speak without fear and act without fear. What the Khaps or MNS does may not be equally depraving but is relevant to start and develop discussions, and without these reforms we can't be open and socially responsible society.

Coming to the third segment -
Environment for those who don't know any better has to be changed - Now for people who are easily termed as backward and are immigrants to the great city - the culprits in this case. In most cases they form the lowest strata in hierarchy of power both politically and within their communities and that is why they look for opportunities in bigger cities. For one reporting data of crime towards women in these communities is difficult and can only be assumed to be high, but only high profile cases like these get the attention and somehow all hell has broken loose. It is not as if rape became a relevant issue overnight. It is the brutality and nonchalant nature of crime that has finally shaken up people - was it fine when it was just rape? The problem with such outcry is the sad extrapolation to ping-pong effect - one moment it is we want change and the other business as usual. Without trying to address the deeper issues it will be the same for women who can't reach for help.
And now people are expected to publicly acknowledge this as a shithole Bollywood and TV media, which reaches the Indian masses better than any medium, may take cue and lead on with some culturally important issues rather than the crap they pull. I am not into saas-bahu and all the super-hit macho movies which Salmaan and Akshay launch every 6 months but my impression is they do help a lot in objectifying women and perpetrating the age old men-women inequality, especially for the people who don't know any better. Now that this issue has become a national subject, we might see improvements in these areas and have entertainment which is more socially relevant. That was the optimist in me, by the way - no way are these suckers going to change course from what makes them "heroes" and fill the theatres.
The example of Bollywood and the hypocrisy that runs so blatantly has been eloquently put by Makarand Sahasrabuddhe in Bollywood stars protest against Delhi rape by Makarand Sahasrabuddhe on Women in India

PS: What can the government do?
There are some who are just as dumb as the people they are leading - so don't expect much. Then the other bunch can't take radical steps because it affects their vote banks - clearly there is something very wrong with the culture of most North Indian states when it comes to woman rights (I am a north Indian and speaking out of experience.) but none shall speak! That leaves a large portion of responsibility to social activists, media, entertainment-cum-education as change agents.

• But what the government can do is enforce laws swiftly, increase rate of patrolling, civil-cloth service to make examples out of even eve-teasers, walk and shame eve teasers. The situation of Delhi is especially bad because of nepotism and the kind of freedom one may derive because they know someone - so may be a separate body which actively monitors and reviews the trials and reporting of FIRs.

What can the ladies do? Not much i guess apart from the usual steps of trying to be safe. May be carry pepper spray and those electric shock gadgets.
What can men do? Seriously look within and grow some balls! But of course it is rather easy and in-style to share BS on Facebook.

Wrap-up of World cup, what followed and the usual Indian drama -

Are we celebrating the glories of cricket? What would have been our reaction had we lost – all is hypothetical of course but booing the Srilankan team, obscene chest thumping and the needless aggression does beg the question do we actually deserve this calm and composed champion team?

Starting off with a disclaimer – I for one posted on facebook “Srl can just suck it” – what I meant to allude was that their historical ritual against India of pre-match build-up and boasting and post-match over analysis with tons of excuses esp. from Sangakara, they don’t deserve any of my compassion. Even though Sanga sung praises post-match, I am not easily swayed by such sarcastic rubbish. Also they are not the second best in the world; they are just toothless outside Srilanka and are historically mere average against India at home. At least I wasn't being mindlessly aggressive and cocky consciously.  

On the win though- It bodes well for the future of Indian cricket that the next generation won us the final but can we the same for our culture? Of course these are more aggressive times compared the 80s when we first won the cup. As cricket pundits point out that was a team which beat much better teams time and again leaving more to cherish and remember. With this world-cup I for one like to believe it was more predictable and pure rationale that lead me among many to guess the journey and the final outcome; barring of course the upset by New Zealand over South Africa(not completely unexpected though).

The "faithfuls"

Coming back to the disgusting Indian fans venting their frustration publically and projecting it on others as their born right somehow I believe all the talk of India becoming a superpower, the shift in gravity towards India and China, the focus on greed and money and of course the tasteless excess of Bollywood has lead to this cultural shift from grace, dignity in the 80s to eve teasing, racism, aggression bordering on the lines of narcissism so ubiquitous nowadays.

In the end were we a long way from the stone peddlers in Bangaladesh – my guess merely a loss away. The fragile sense of self-esteem, greater sense of entitlement and the ill buffoonery – oscillating between switching off television at the slightest indication of defeat to boasting their belongingness to others are not good signs toward the wellbeing of national psyche, apparently the next superpower.

The other end of the spectrum - with frequent mood swings

Celebrating success like wins in the football worldcup is one thing, but belittling and disgracing those same “heroes” in defeat and the opposition is not way off from the rot that plagues us from within. A metaphor is celebrating Ganesh immersion or a Durga puja with all sorts of gimmicks to inhumane riots when there is a slightest bit of disconnect. 

the sorry tales of esoteric politics in India

It takes a high to scribble
about souls so abominable
nonchalant trash talks
myopic, equivocal semantics
high on platitude
all for lucre, nothing for home
blatant vote bank politics.
the sorry tales of the hypocrites...
the sorry tales...


(repugnant to the sense of decency yet they seem so alien to the very thing; it is so so fugly)

this is a psalm of my beloved: the Nehrus, Gandhies, Thackreys,
Lalitas, Badals, Advanis, Mayavatis, Gowdas, Yadavs
and scores of Singhs.
posterity with all pristine DNA
all incessant immortal souls
readily attesting the progenitor.
the tales of the swivel chair..
the sorry tales...


(bloody terrorists failed to blew up the Parliament, the Pentagon; the Pandemonium...
Now how dare they feast on the innocents, feeble lives of merry???)

once in a while
more frequent off late
namaste, a spurious smile, jai bharat mata ki
door to door, the same tantrums
dusting out the old promises, the very same speeches,
for the nth time
as if his father has come back to life.


(the real outsiders were here, but the uncle-nephew rather hid in their cowardice... but when quoted on camera they have the all season-ready BS to deliver)


an unwilling resignation is at loss to convince
obfuscating elections,
like straightening deck chairs on the titanic
up against a brick wall
templates of attrition
so jaded to vote, Meh!
yearn for the sunrise on the dark horizon,
sunrise on the dark horizons...





(who to vote for, leaves us as comfortable as a bum on a porcupine, so i prefer a nap over the ordeal... but very often we pay a heavy price with sleepless nights for the very nap we just could not fight )




they have left million in the tracks,
but unwittingly we've made a paradise,
for them to encroach n change
caught in the thick on thin,
now run helter-skelter for cover,
the echos of gunfire, grenades are here.
pointing fingers have spun into pointing guns.

(Sir, i wonder if you could not shake a leg, shove that fat ass of yours a bit more!
Son, Pakistan, China, US, the former governments, lack of resources, time lines, opposition, the govt.... scores of alibis, apocryphal.
oh man, i wish i could deport them to Moon, only if we had hundreds of chandrayans )

u know what is really petty?
staunchest ally of evil ain't
the Islamic green or Hindu saffron
or Sikhs' khanda sahib or cross of Christ
it is these demons who take us for a all round spree.

(the derogatory remarks: aisa chota mota hadsa itne bade desh mein to ho hi jata hai is what they have after all is blown away)

Play it down, they preach
as they race away with their entourage
in guzzling, fortified SUVs.
the talks of theirs retaliation catches eyeballs
only when cricket is called off.
media abuzz with tearful anecdotes
all fizzles out as anger instills
when we hear them speak.


(we condemn, we stand united, my heart goes out, we ll teach a fitting lesson, tribute to martyrs,
this inhumane act ll not be tolerated, common minimum program, fight against terror, secularism, equal opportunities.... the list is endless, all no gospel...)


some years down the line,
democracy such a stunning beauty,
demagogues shoot her point-blank.
all in cold blood
anxiety in the hallway,
don't know if she will make it through.

(but don't u think we're as responsible as they are supposed to be, the sorry tale is as much our's as it is their's)

the present is what we have,
to recuperate her well being.
i don't trust god for them to rot in hell
can't help feeling dismayed, loosing drive
but don't you see?
no fire, no nature, no grave
can put this endemic to rest.
We've got to do our shoelaces, stand up
to stop the chicken on its way to the butcher.


as our heroes die, do we've a leader who would give an arm and leg for the country? If we want f#%*$#g CHANGE then we better be that CHANGE.