Seriously, what is wrong with the nation? The literacy rate is increasing but I guess it is no good if it doesn't result in betterment of the society. India touched an effective literacy rate of 74.04 per cent in 2011, while in 2001 census the rate was 64.8 percent (Source: www.mapsofindia.com).
Yet, we never felt so insecure!
Take Mumbai for instance. 15 years ago, I would proudly tell my cousins or friends from different states how we women are so safe in Mumbai that we can travel very late in the night. There was no doubt about our safety in trains or auto rickshaws. But now, it's not like that.
I don't know if I am being unnecessarily paranoid, but the way I feel (and I am sure many others feel too) has changed drastically. I am scared to travel alone in a ladies compartment when there are not too many people. It has become a habit to look under the seats for unclaimed objects and to dial the helpline when there's an unclaimed bag in the train. And once when I forgot a bag in the train, I panicked not for losing it but wondering if it will create panic in the train!
I am unsure of talking in Hindi in the local market here as recently a shopkeeper fought with me as I did not speak in the local language and indicated that I am an 'outsider'! No I did not make a police complaint. You know why? Because I was scared that since the many onlookers did not stand up for me, who will act as a witness? Who will believe me? And what if someone comes and threatens me! I now speak in the local language in the market for all the wrong reasons, not for the fact that I love the language and scored my best marks in it while in school.
Almost everyday, there are news of rapes, gang rapes... it's pathetic, inhuman! And good people come together to raise their voice for justice. But why do we need to plead for justice? In this independent era, after our freedom fighters sacrificed so much and now, after we pay such heavy taxes and bear the brunt of inflation, shouldn't getting justice in time and feeling secure be our right? But we don't get justice in time, we don't feel secure.
And when we don't, we hold on to Hope. Hope that, despite everything, gives us the strength to move on and an assurance that things will become better. But as things only continue to worsen and we start clinging more tightly to Hope, it is getting weaker.
Hope keeps us alive but Hope has a life too. And I only hope that we do not lose it, because if we lose Hope too, what will we hold on to?
I have been reading a lot of articles on the issue and specially from women - which is generally unidirectional. I know the situation is bad, but it is important to keep the faith. That is the reason I like your post.
ReplyDeleteThank you Abhra!
ReplyDeleteGood post. Yes, we cling to hope for all matters in life. At a point when we see that there's no hope, we become desperate and do what's best at that moment. So, the situation now is to do what's best in our interests as the hope has almost faded.
ReplyDeleteAnd people coming together for justice is just one good way of making things right... That's what helps the hope survive
Delete:( Your words resound with my thoughts so much. What if there's no hope one day to hold on to?
ReplyDeleteI hope hope stays on...
DeleteWe as humans have a tendency to forget things fast. The rape incident will disappear from our collective memories and then there will be a scam about which we will make a hue and cry and that too we will forget.
ReplyDeleteLife is full of such incidents and hope is what carries us forward and keeps us motivated to live life. Humans are resilient as a species else we would have never survived the wars and the famines...this does not mean that I am not shaken up by that incident in Mumbai.
That's the thing with our memory... And with too many disturbing events happening the focus shifts easilyto the latest incident. But i only hopenothing like this happens again
DeleteIndian women are seething with rage. As mothers, we have to bring up daughters capable of fighting for themselves.
ReplyDeleteNobody will take care of us. We'll have to take care of ourselves.
You are right Purba. We rather learn how to defend ourselves
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