Pardon me for turning up after a long time to the blog. Lately, I am pursuing summer internship in Delhi and let's put it this way - the city altogether has new experiences in store for me - whether it's the morning conundrum of getting up a bit early, preparing lunch for myself and move out of home as soon as possible to catch the metro train or enriching my learning at work and staying tad careful in an afflicted city where rapes have been a routine. The question arises if I am liking this lifestyle or not. To be precise, I still am adapting to it. I have two months to spend here, of which one month is already going to be over. Of course, one thing that I am really enjoying is that I am completely free after the office hours - no assignments, no quizzes and no pre-readings :D
I like the city because it offers different avenues for learning in every aspect of life, it helps an individual to grow at a personal as well as professional level. I hail from a small town and it is relatively easy for me to decipher this. But, only recently has been such incidents in Delhi which have particularly raised a huge question over its image. Once known for its tourists attractions and the capital city of India, the metropolitan is now better known for the everyday rape incidents happening in every nook and corner. This is severely tarnishing its image and pose a threat to the safety of women. Personally, I feel less secure and there is no second thought over personal safety when it comes to staying out late night.
Unfortunately, such demonic acts occur in all forms all over the country but the incidents in Delhi fall easily the prey of media because of the city's national importance and hence are in limelight. It is never the case that such incidents are nowhere to happen in whole of the country. Such acts are a result of extremely frenzied and grotesque thoughts of an individual which are irrespective of a place, but depends entirely on person to person basis. Questioning Delhi on the basis of safety is justified to a certain extent because being the capital city, it has to maintain its esteem in not only India but the whole world and incidents like these certainly raise a huge question over the integrity of the city, the society and its culture which on a whole puts our nation into bad light.
The issue is grave and a firm law has to be in place with no delay but even after this happens, do you really think it will alone enforce a major change? Certainly not. Because, the solution lies in purging the patriarchal thinking from the society first. How do we initiate this? One way is educating masses, especially the impoverished about rape, its causes and remedies. Obviously, a tighter proactive authority along with it has to be in place in order to drive punitive actions as well as ensure safety.
The question is not only about the impoverished or weaker economic sections of the society but also of the affluent class, some of whom have a derailed barbaric thinking. For them, the only plausible remedy I see is a strict legal punishment.
We live in a society that provides us the fundamental right against exploitation. No one has the right to inflict sadism or domination over other without one's will. The protests on the streets are justified but will only be fruitful if the government has a reactive approach and act in a true spirit.
On a lighter note, I wish that my sojourn in Delhi quite proves to be an enjoyable one. Amid all this, I have a lot of shopping to do and make my stay a memorable one! :)
(The views expressed are personal. I'd love to hear about your views in order to make the post an engaging one :) )
Surbhi.
I like the city because it offers different avenues for learning in every aspect of life, it helps an individual to grow at a personal as well as professional level. I hail from a small town and it is relatively easy for me to decipher this. But, only recently has been such incidents in Delhi which have particularly raised a huge question over its image. Once known for its tourists attractions and the capital city of India, the metropolitan is now better known for the everyday rape incidents happening in every nook and corner. This is severely tarnishing its image and pose a threat to the safety of women. Personally, I feel less secure and there is no second thought over personal safety when it comes to staying out late night.
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| Picture Courtesy: Ayush |
The issue is grave and a firm law has to be in place with no delay but even after this happens, do you really think it will alone enforce a major change? Certainly not. Because, the solution lies in purging the patriarchal thinking from the society first. How do we initiate this? One way is educating masses, especially the impoverished about rape, its causes and remedies. Obviously, a tighter proactive authority along with it has to be in place in order to drive punitive actions as well as ensure safety.
The question is not only about the impoverished or weaker economic sections of the society but also of the affluent class, some of whom have a derailed barbaric thinking. For them, the only plausible remedy I see is a strict legal punishment.
We live in a society that provides us the fundamental right against exploitation. No one has the right to inflict sadism or domination over other without one's will. The protests on the streets are justified but will only be fruitful if the government has a reactive approach and act in a true spirit.
On a lighter note, I wish that my sojourn in Delhi quite proves to be an enjoyable one. Amid all this, I have a lot of shopping to do and make my stay a memorable one! :)
(The views expressed are personal. I'd love to hear about your views in order to make the post an engaging one :) )
Surbhi.
Posts
Very well written piece indeed! You might want to also consider the fact that the sheer number of rape cases which go unpunished, unheard and unheeded in Delhi also contributes towards emboldening the already astray percentage of menfolk. To compare the city with Mumbai, the streets are almost always full with people, passing vehicles and even open establishments. Chances that a rapist might be able to slink back into the dark are minimal.
ReplyDeleteI am not saying that Mumbai would not have witnessed its share of heart-wrenching incidents, but the fact that the city as a whole works towards preventing it..goes a huge way in its favor. Keep in mind that the limelight never moves away from this city too :)
Well said. I appreciate the way you have presented the stark contrast between the two cities of national importance! :)and this is the prime reason why Mumbai is 'considered' safer.
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