The Delhi Braveheart, Delhi and Us

One year. Endless protests. Continuous tears. Political drama. Juvenile discussions. Conclusion – meh!

It has been one year since the Delhi braveheart was brutally gang-raped on one cold winter night and we are still at exactly the same point it all started. What has changed? Girls are still getting raped on roads, in hospitals, on their honeymoons, workplaces,.. the list goes on. Will there be an end to it, ever? What pains me further is now it is not just limited to adolescent girls; the claws of these merciless animals have not left even kids. Every time I hear about an innocent little girl aged 4 raped somewhere, a part of me dies. What coerced us to become so utterly inhuman that our young ones who are not even aware of what ‘rape’ is, are subjected to it?

There are times when all I can think about is Damini’s family. In what condition will Damini’s parents be? When her dad comes home now, who would hug him? Are there times when her mom needs to call someone for any assistance and ends up calling her name? How she must feel when the realization dawns upon her for the nth time? Who ties rakhi to her brothers now? These are some of the most basic things that may happen every other day. They have received a wound that will remain open for the rest of their lives but what have we learnt?

On one hand is my uncle’s family. During the whole time, when this news was broadcast, he didn’t allow anyone in the home to watch any of the news channels. According to him, he didn’t want to ruin it for his daughters. He believes that just by not allowing them to watch news, he can keep their world rosy forever. I still can’t get his viewpoint. If we don’t know what can strike us anytime, how can we be prepared? You can stop us from going out post-evening but these incidents happen even during daytime. Every college has a bunch of guys whose sole purpose in life is eve-teasing. Someone very close to me has been molested in train by a 50 year old man and the poor girl couldn’t do anything but shout at him once. When I think of all this, I reach to the conclusion that awareness is necessary. But is being aware and alert enough?

On the other hand, we have broad-minded parents like mine, who have always thought that their daughters should get the best education, so what if they are girls? They can walk on the same path that boys do; there’s nothing that their girls can’t achieve, sky is the limit for them. The darling daughter can study as much she wants, can work in any company of her choice, can take her own decisions. But, unfortunately, this whole mindset was a year back. When I joined the company I’m working for right now about six months back, I was hoping I could get posted in Delhi. And this was the moment when all hell broke loose. The girl, who was not told ‘NO’ for anything up until now, was severely reprimanded. When I tried to rebel, my mother tried to explain me gently, “Till the time you reach home, we’ll be worried to death. And this will happen daily. What if one of us fell ill just worrying about you?” That was the time I realized the world will never be the same. In spite of having asked for Delhi already, I simply whisper to God, “I love my parents. I don’t want Delhi.”