Post-Traumatic Action Disorder

It’s been two weeks since the trauma began. Two weeks since 6 ravenous beasts succeeded in traumatizing an innocent victim, and the entire nation, with a shocking act of rape and murder. The Delhi gang-rape incident was like a hot iron poker stirring up the embers of our slumbering conscience. While psychological experts work towards pinning down why this specific incident has caused repercussions of this scale, the rest of us are either out on the streets with cardboard placards or sitting at home venting on the keyboard. The anger that’s been brewing ever since that fateful night on December the 16^th, has been bellowing for blood. Seething with rage at the events unfolding in the capital, hordes of protesters shake down the Parliament with their demands for the Death Penalty, Castration and all other forms of torture that can satiate the blood lust evoked by the crime. People want justice, and though they are justified in their sentiments, there’s more to the solution than just the death of the criminals.

                                                     After two weeks of watching a protest building momentum, like an inferno garnering more and more tinder, the nation seems to be approaching a consensus on WHERE the haunting issue takes root – in the filthy dregs of the human mind. For no matter how many policemen we dispatch into the night, how many women we arm with pepper-spray and tasers, no matter how many guilty necks hang, if we cannot uproot this weed from within our minds, the toll of human rights violation in our country will simply grow. Yes, Human Rights. Not just women’s rights or men’s rights, but Human Rights. This is an opportunity for us as a nation to take these issues off of the backburner and address them alongside that of the safety of women in India.

                                                     As a result of this awareness, a growing number of people are seeking answers on how to cure this malignancy within us. Everybody’s saying “The society must reform! We must change our mindsets!” Anybody care to explain how? Christopher Nolan’s Inception seems like a surreal idea, but let’s face it – no extraordinarily simple methods are showing up anytime soon. We have to affect Thought, affect how people think, how they perceive those around them. This sort of a social renovation has to be implemented at different facets of our existence – at home, at work, and at school.

                                                    Being a student, I’ve been storming my brain, trying to figure out what I can do to make a dent on this ballooning wart of Injustice. Discussions were being held hither and thither, opinions hurtled back and forth, and a line of thought emerged – why isn’t the Educational Department of our government being held at sword-point and questioned on how it’s going to tackle the implementation of this Change. Education has been heralded as the light that can overcome even the murkiest darkness, so why can’t we employ that here? School is where we develop a social identity – it’s where we learn People, learn how to deal with People. Sure we get the basics from home, but school is where we employ them first. It then becomes the responsibility of the Ministry of Education to include Human Rights, Gender Sensitivity in the curriculum.

                                                    Mutual respect and equality are cornerstones that have to be set in each young mind to ensure that the change we want seen in society, actually happens. The whole nation’s in an outcry against women being objectified and being sexually targeted. I’m asking the government to employ new standards in education that remove the tag of taboo from many sensitive issues and help the students address them in order to understand them. Whilst the educational institutions of our country are busy manufacturing intelligent, work-crazy professionals, the humane thread seems to be chopped out of their DNA. The prime responsibility of the Ministry of Education ought to be to ensure that these people come out as good human beings more than anything else. Students must not just be equipped with the specific skills and knowledge to earn lots of dough, live splendid lives but also be provided with the knowledge to be sensitive, value-based, moral, and humane.

                                                    A mandatory programme should be implemented in all schools, both private and government-run, that focuses on the rights of Women and Children, and gender sensitivity. It shouldn’t be one of those sessions where the boys are sent out to play, and the girls sit in on a “special session” where they’re lectured on how NOT to be raped. It’s not the women who rape, it’s the men that commit this heinous act. This programme should be aimed at both boys and girls, freeing the female mind of the fear that stifles her voice, and awakening the male mind to its responsibility towards protecting the more vulnerable sex. Young boys grow up with the belief that women are objects to be tampered with, sources of entertainment, a grade of people below Men.  This deep-rooted bug has to be exterminated. Encourage the girls to be more outspoken, teach the boys to be gentlemanly. The school must succeed in helping the students evolve a sense of comraderie amongst them that rises from a mutual understanding and respect for one another. To create such a programme, the Ministry ought to consult specialists – psychologists, sociologists and the likes – people who can give clear guidelines on how to go about this job.

                                                     The youth are a volatile group and to mould them, to ensure that they hop on the right track, teachers and parents must play a vital role. At home, preferential treatment of a boy sets the tone for male dominance and female suppression in his mind. Treat all children equally, and make them aware that they are equal. A brother raised to look out for his sisters, cousins and mother will go on to do the same towards all women in his life. Teachers, instead of raising eyebrows and pointing accusatory fingers, should understand the troubled young minds and set out to help them figure themselves out. . Dictating them to maintain one-arm distance and no verbal interaction is paving the way for them to look at each other as alien sects. It is the teachers’s responsibility to create an atmosphere where boys and girls can be comfortable in each other’s presence; where they can befriend each other and learn not to take advantage of the trust they place in each other. This isn’t the case all across the nation. The Ministry of Education has to set out on an arduous task of breaking the current mindset and introducing a new one in its stead.

                                                        It’s not an easy job; no one said it would be. But it has to be done, for only then can we claim to be on the path to development. Only then can women venture out on their own and claim their place in the world. Introducing more stringent laws and enforcing more policing are measures that can cure the symptoms of the plague that has infected the Indian mind. I’m asking the Government, the Ministry of Education, to prescribe an antibiotic. In its absence, faith in the democratic government of India will crumble and we will witness a nation-wide agitation. I endear the politicians and law-makers to take fast, steady steps to affirm the position of women as safe, respected individuals in the society. To curb the inflammation that we witness today, we must take the antibiotic.
 

                                                       I am a girl, and I dare to believe that we can change. I dare to believe that one day, I can walk down the lanes knowing I won’t be pounced upon – not just because the streets will be well-lit, and uniformed men are holding night-long vigils, but because I will know that as a girl, I am respected and understood.   

We should NOT FORGET

         The thing about distractions is that they are mortal. Sometimes they have long life, sometimes they last for a very small period of time. 

           The girl who was struggling to survive after the heinous assault which rocked the smug foundations of Indian society, whose each breath was a ripple of hope for the Indian nation, finally succumbed to her injuries. The not-so-subtle diversionary tactic has backfired on the government. So much for giving her, 'all the help she needs'.

             But no, it isn't over yet. Not by a loooong shot. Nothing can appease the livid nation now, not even if the entire Indian cricket team retired together.

             Although the girl has moved on to a better place, the flame that her trauma had ignited still burns in all our hearts and the light from this fire illuminates all the the government has been skating over for years. This is it. A harsh, painful wake-up call. There is no turning back now.
It is time for change; Time for everyone to wake up and smell the stench and actually DO something rather than just sit and shake heads at 'today's generation'.  

         The best part is some people are actually putting the blame on the girl. Apparently getting brutally gang-raped and tortured was her fault as she had been out after 9 pm with a friend and had probably dressed provocatively. 

          These infuriating, baseless and utterly moronic reasonings indicate just how hard it will be to bring about a change in our society.  The ultimate root of the alarming elevation in the number of rape cases comes down to how children are raised and what values are taught to them during their childhood days. They should be brought up in such a way that intermingling between girls and boys will be considered normal. The misogyny that flares deep within Indian culture should be   be extinguished and male and female should be considered as equals.

        While our so-called leaders hasten to somehow gloss over this sticky situation and wait for the public fury to die down as it usually does as Time marches forward, it is perhaps best that, however embarrassing, disgusting and gory the incident may be, we should NOT FORGET. It'll do good for it to hover in the mind of India as a harsh yet strong reminder of the battle for survival of a girl, no, of all girls, who had had a whole life ahead and who had wanted to live. We deserve to live with dignity too.

Morning blues

Disclaimer: The characters, events and places portrayed in this post are purely fictitious. Any resemblance to any person dead or alive is purely coincidental. None of the matter in this post is to be copied in any way. No ideas are allowed to be stolen from here. If I see any such practice, dire consequences will ensue.

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I pulled my blanket over my head; it was cold in my room and as any cold adolescent, I felt very lazy.
Abruptly, I felt something on my stomach and heard it squawk. Talon, my ‘I-won't-let master-loaf-around’ phoenix. I rolled over in an attempt to get him off, but he seemed to understand my intentions, and in spite, he clawed off my blanket, and jabbed at my head like a woodpecker.
"Ouch!" I pushed him off my bed. "Did it really require that!?" But Talon merely perched proudly on the head end of my bed, and ruffled his feathers.
I slid my legs off the bed and yawned, moving my long, uncombed hair to my back. "Fine, I'm up!"
I opened the window to let the haughty bird out, closed it after him, pulled down the blinds, and habitually knocked on the wall behind my table. No, I wasn't on plate 639 anymore; no longer in a small room, living next door to her. I was at home-where I should have been living since I was eight, but had only been doing so for about a month.
Their memories had been retrieved, and my parents had brought us to our new home. Though this was what we had been fighting so hard for, I still couldn't stomach the fact that it was all over; that I wouldn't have to use my bow and arrows anymore, that we had reached our goal, and parted, never to hear from each other ever again.
I pulled on my jacket, and lit up the fireplace.
"Mark!" it was my sister- Jasmine's voice. "Mother says you should come out quickly and go to bath."
"Alright." I replied, "I'm coming."
A different sight greeted me when I walked out of my room. Mother was dressed up in special attire, and so were Father and Jasmine! "Mark, cousin Aiden's old suit is already in the bathroom. Now be a dear and take a quick bath." Mother then rushed off somewhere else. Then, it hit me. "Father, does this mean that Grandmother and Grandfather are coming?"
"Yes" he answered, "Don't forget, we are to be at our neatest and on our best behaviour when they arrive.’Aven' is what you will be called. Now do hurry to bath and call if you need help with the clothes."
I rushed with my bath as I was told to. Grandmother and Grandfather were the most highly respected in our family, and had been reigning over Plate 371 for several decades. I had only seen them once before- on my uncle's wedding back when I was five. Every member of the family had to wear special attire, and looked like grown-ups and kids going to the same school. Grandmother looked very kind, though I didn't get to spend any time with her. Grandfather looked strict, and scary. Throughout the time, I was cowering behind Mother, hugging her legs, also in that dress code.

I stepped out of the bathtub, and started getting dry. I wondered what Grandfather and grandmother would think of us. I was still a shy person; would they be alright with that? I hoped so.

The clothes I was to wear looked princely, and probably were. The shoes looked uncomfortable, and had long laces. I managed to get all but the latter on, and had to ask for help. I tied my hair, as neatly as possible, and looked at myself in the mirror. “Dashing.” I laughed, as I picked up the shoes and walked outside to a chair.
“Father! How am I to tie these laces?” I called, practicing that politeness which I had to show them when they came.
He came, helped me out and then left again to help Mother get things ready.

“Aven and Azalea, Don't forget.” Mother reminded us. “Could both of you stand outside to wait for them?”

I gulped. “Y-yes Mother.” Jasmine-I mean, Azalea, and I walked carefully outside, and waited in the courtyard.

After ten minutes, Mother and Father joined us.
“Be careful, kids.” Father warned. “They’ll just appear out of nowhere.”
Out of nowhere indeed, a grand horse-cart trotting to our doorstep wasn't very obvious, was it?”

x--------------x

This has been lying in the drafts for a long, long time, so I thought I'd just give it a shot and publish it.
I hope you like it :)

Introducing Diversity

     Us mortals being the result of our creators pallete,have been endowed with a plethora  of abilities and weaknesses.The former may or may not enjoy the privilege of being unexampled .If it is the case there exists
a wide scope to garner appreciation.But more often than not the complementary situation prevails.With the incidence of similiar abilities being of accentuating prevalence,ones acheivments are starved of its sole incentive to evolve and develop.Since procuring the assent of ones fellow being has always been the sole motive of the human behaviourism,the absence of it berefts the individual of the imperative motivation.
     And hence the exigency to evolve and change arises,if your current crop of abilities fail to impress or is of
no practical implication by all means innovate.Us humans are a result of millions of years of evolution,our DNA is armed with that ability to adapt.Many may combat my meditations up to this point and may allege

my disloyalty to personal individuality.But to these people I  suggest or rather question ,are you like everybody else?What indeed is the point of being a mere cell in a body,or a unit in a mob?What is the point of existence in mediocrity if you cant stand out?The annals of history offer room not to those who imitate but rather to those who initiate  revolution.Be different DONT blend with the trends!