The Shame That Beckons Us Every New Year

2016, a year that sent us into a vertigo with its sphere of "Surprises", ironically ended in a "Predictable" whimper - At least for most Indians. Predictably, like every year, men and women of all hues gathered at a famous landmark, reveling like there's no tomorrow, in a famous cosmopolitan city, to conjure a new beginning. And quite predictably the new-beginning that these revelers had desired for never arrived. Rather, by the first-day break of 2017 they experienced déjà vu of the old-world order. Nothing! Absolutely Nothing ! had changed. Once again, a girl/ girls was/ were groped in a crowded place by "faceless" men, in the shadows of burly policemen. And even before most Indians could come to term with what had happened, politicians had descended with their abominable comments.

Prominent questions that popped up in everyone's mind, in the aftermath of the new-year incident, were - Why are people not sensitive to women? Why should women bear the brunt of unruly men? Why shouldn't there be a curfew on men lurking at late hours? Shouldn't such irresponsible politicians be put behind bars? etc...

While no one can doubt the validity of these questions, they still miss the reliability test. Assuming we found the answer to each of these questions and acted with alacrity on the solutions, would we still be reliably able to say that such incidents will not occur in the future? I bet, the answer is a big NO. Not because, the questions asked and solutions found were wrong per-se but because we were trying to find the right solution at the wrong place. And right solutions are those that remain reliable i.e. they pass the test of time. For instance, the utmost shameful incident of 31st Dec, 2016 was an exact repeat of incidents in other Indian cities ealier. After all such previous incidents as well many questions were raised and most of them were similar to those mentioned above. Rightful solutions were found too - new laws were enacted; administration was awakened and media became active. Unfortunately, none of these solutions were reliable enough to remove the curse of "unruly men", "gender insensitivity", "irresponsible politicians" etc.. Again, the post-haste solutions fail at another level as well and that is they get mired in quick fixes such as "teach women self-defense techniques", "place more CCTV cameras", "have women police in public spaces". All of these quick-fixes are indeed important without a debate. But a second look at the quick fix solutions exposes the mistrust we have on our own people and the lack of mechanisms that enable the correction of a society through greater trust building. A society where trust levels are low is a recipe for disaster.
The need of the hour, therefore, for all of us is to step back from the current incident and focus on the larger narrative. The larger narrative exposes our double-standards where certain problems are given priority over others, leaving behind a weak scaffolding that can collapse at the slightest nudge. The larger narrative is about how each of us is vulnerable to abuse and dishonor everyday - financially- where did our road tax go? why did the poor farmer get robbed of his property by the cunning politician; physically - why are our brethren in deep jungles not provided with basic healthcare? why does a senior citizen have to pay commission and stand in a long queue to get his hard-earned pension? emotionally - why does the long arm of justice not act against the woman who implicated her husband falsely?  what mechanism does a poor lady in a dark corner of the country have to register a complaint against her abuser? 

Unfortunately, the larger narrative manifests from the same key component - it is the feeling that "I can get away" and "nothing can happen to me". Such beliefs preclude us from exhibiting dignity and acting responsibly. The abuser thinks - the girl shall not complain and i can get away. The contractor thinks - I shall pay my commission and nothing shall happen to me. 

Thus, it behoves us to reflect on this matter and ask ourselves - what would make us behave in a dignified an responsible manner, every time?

The reliable answer to this poignant question lies in the simple construct of "Sensibility", which unfortunately is grossly missing from the belief-system of majority of Indians. Absence of sensibility and sensibility alone prevents most of us from behaving as dignified and responsible citizens. As our society opens up more, it seems as if lack of sensibility is giving way to abundant bigotry, in every sphere of life. Unless the weak scaffolding our society is strengthened from its roots we can await our vulnerable moments of exploitation.

To my mind, if we want to create a strong society that is devoid of bigotry and lush with sensible people we would require a two-pronged approach -

(1) A strong education system that promotes critical reasoning ability among children is a must-take first step. In the long-term such a system will bless these children with the power of Questioning. To grow up as sensible human-beings one must learn to Question. No simplicity of mind, no obscurity of station, should escape the universal duty of questioning all that we believe, our actions and our inactions. Ability to question before one acts shall not only prevent indecorous events but eventually lead to the blossoming of an otherwise stunted society.

(2) In the more near-term it must be the call-of-duty among honorable adults to protect the vulnerable most. We as adults must remember that while the 'death of one person is a tragedy, the death of millions becomes only a statistic'. And we must prevent that one-person from dying. Our great glory can be achieved by existence through purpose - live for a cause that leads to greater good; display of valor - start by picking small battles against minor actus-reus; and sharing and educating - share what little you have and educate the bourgeois.

Meanwhile, we can just relax a little bit and read this positive story by humyum posted on 10th December: https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street-experiences/125412-unusual-funny-heartwarming-experiences-road-36.html#post4107342