Today's thoughts.

There were a few things that have cast impressions, swayed feelings and had generally kept my mind occupied through the course of the day. An event that takes place far away from oneself has a bearing, if the affected party happens to have touched your life in some way or the other. There can be other incidents that have befallen upon someone, one has never come across, that can also create ripples within oneself by their sheer audacity, intensity or what have you. Let me try explaining my frame of mind by visiting each thought.

 (a) Ranajeet's moment of achievement.

 Ranajeet was with me at work and had left the service last year after finishing his initial engagement of
 service. He was poised to embark upon a new career in his 'second innings' and had appeared in quite a
 few competitive exams in the process - he seeks banking as an ideal profession since he could be with his
 family to look after an ailing mother and oversee his daughter's education. He'd inherited a bad debt from his
 father who'd passed away a few years back and had also the responsibility of getting his kid sister married.

 He'd patiently gone about tackling his problems. The bad debt was liquidated from the lump sum money that    
 he'd got on retirement, a small house was bought and today was the day he was to give his sister's hand in
 marriage at Thiruvananthapuram. Unfortunately, I couldn't attend the function due to prior commitments but
 had sent a team to grace the occasion.

 Here's wishing that god gives him everything that he wishes for because, he simply deserves it.

 (b) Another incident of rape.

 There has been an incident of rape of a 22 year old photo-journalist, while on duty. The place of incident -
 Bombay - a city that was considered safe for women at any time of the day. Six goons are involved and
 the poor young lady is being given medical attention at the Jaslok Hospital.

 Why does this continue to happen in our country? How do we put an end to this scourge? Can the law
 of the Sha'ariat be enforced for the perpetrators of this sort of crime as an extraordinary proposition to
 instill the element of fear? Or a fast track judicial process that would ultimately dole out capital punishment
 for the guilty? There can be no other option from my point of view.

 I hang my head in shame, young lady, for your agony as we, as a nation, have let you down! Here's me
 hoping and praying that you acquire the strength to out beat the scars at the earliest.

 (c) A foreigner's nightmare.

 While browsing the net, I'd come across the horrific account put down by Micheala Cross, from the
 University of Chicago, who has been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder upon her return from
 India, after a study trip last year.

 In her account, she calls India a "traveller's heaven and a woman's hell" and has gone on to narrate the
 extraordinary levels of aggressive sexual behaviour that she'd experienced during her stay. Just sample a
 few:-
   
      (a) she's stalked, groped and masturbated at.
      (b) she's photographed on mobile cameras to the extent of being offensive when she'd joined a
           group of dancing girls at a religious function.
      (c) she's clawed at the groins and breasts while she bargained in a public market.

 Are Indian men so sex starved? Or is it that our fixation for fair skinned people a sad reality, despite our
 claim that we've put the ill effects of 'centuries of the British Raj' behind us?


Tailpiece.

The moment of introspection and the need to be good human beings as espoused in our rich cultural heritage has been our valuable legacy. And it's high time that every Indian steadfastly adheres to them, failing which he'll become a laughing stock to the rest of the world!