This Women's Day has started off making quite an impression on my mind. I am overwhelmed by this feeling which is neither fear, pain, anger nor shame. It is the memory of a wound that simply demands a solution, an end. This wound had probably came along with me on the day I was born, but the broader perspective of my family and their warmth has never let it surface. But the world is not motherly enough to do that. Yes, I am talking about the uncountable and unaccountable crimes against women in India.
No, these heinous crimes do not just happen to girls of certain age, they happen to girls who are not even out of the mother's womb; for, a girl is a burden not to the woman carrying her, but to the people around her. No, they are not targeted just at girls in jeans or skirts, even fully-clad women are molested; for, there is a fetish of 'almost everything'. No, they do not just happen in cities, ironically they happen and are increasing at an exponential level in rural areas; for, animals know no borders. No, they do not happen at nights, they are committed in broad daylight; for, even a thorn-bedded path seems like bedroom to them. Well, they can happen to anyone, any time, anywhere under any circumstances, one can not set the terms and conditions for these crimes. But, we can definitely narrow down to one reason, 'Thinking Process'. The perpetrators in the 16th Dec Delhi gore, simply thought of it is as a form of enjoyment, a situation where they can gloat over a woman's helpless condition, a chance to prove their male dominance, or may be to teach a lesson. Yes, an uneducated male chauvinist in his journey to teach women a lesson, had tortured, did indescribable things and finally, killed a young to-be doctor. Their incorrigible thinking did not start with their plan to come out and have some fun that night, but it is way deep down.
As children, they might have seen their father thrashing up their mother, made a bet on pulling a school girl's skirt, made innumerable number of vulgar remarks at people on streets, peeped into the bathrooms of neighbors or I am sure, might have done everything a jobless slum dog would do. There was none to grab their collars and put them on the right track. After all, we are a bundle of values and lessons taught by our parents. Hence, the moss started growing on the already rusty souls. And today it proves no one had even attempted to maneuver them into that route. I thought their consciousness was rolled up and thrown back to be lost in their filthy minds, but today after watching the Nirbhaya documentary, I realized it was never there and would never come.
Crimes against women are not just limited to rape or sexual harassment. They include eve-teasing, condescending behavior and refusal to recognize and acknowledge a job well done at work place, denial of freedom in marriage/career, demand of dowry, denial of all other rights bestowed upon Indian citizens by the Indian Constitution. Anything that draws a line between rights, opportunities, freedom, facilities of men and women can be treated as a crime because we do have the 'Right to Equality'.
But, will this situation ever change? Will this wound find its end? More than schemes and policies, Education has to find its way towards the children all across the country. Because Victor Hugo once correctly said, "He who opens a school door, closes a prison". I am confident that I would bring up my child to be a sensible individual. And I am sure he does his part in changing the conservative ideas of seniors in my home, which I couldn't accomplish. Well, the days have changed and roles have reciprocated.
Education is that powerful weapon which can change the world. While the world takes all its time to change, we're here to nudge it all times to move towards the sunnier side. We're here to raise our hands to stop and slap. We're here to fight for each others' rights. 'We' is not the Police Force, Indian Government or any other Special Security Cell. We is I. I am The Woman.
