This has been playing a lot on my mind recently.
At 23, I was in Pune pursuing my MBA. That was the year I met Tarun who today is my husband. I was away from home in the true sense for the first time. I stayed with a room mate in a beautiful apartment. I studied, I dined out, I watched movies, I partied, I shopped, I got back home late. It was a beautiful life...it was when I got a chance to grow into the woman I am today.
Sadly 23 is when her life ended. She was pursuing her education and I am sure did the same things I did. But she never got the chance to enjoy that freedom.
I have seen so many people venting online about the situation in India, the safety of women, death penalty, castration so on and so forth. I do not have any solutions but this is what I have to say.
As an Indian woman I can confidently say that all us have been molested. We have been groped, we have been pinched, we have touched inappropriately. It usually starts when you are young and are not even really sure what has just happened. And then as you grow up you realize this is going to be pretty common.
There have been multiple times when I am walking alone on a street - sometimes even during the day, or getting back home late in the night with a boy that I have wondered, "What if I get raped/attacked/molested now?". It is sad that this is a question that I have asked myself multiple times, that I have felt this insecure and vulnerable...
For the longest time I could not get myself to read about the violence this girl was inflicted with. I thought about the worst things that could have happened and sadly when I read about it my fears were confirmed. What happened that night was havaniyat.
There are many solutions and ideas being discussed today but the success of it all is one - when this girl and her family has been served justice and two - when the thought, "What if I get raped/attacked/molested now?" never pops up in a girl's head.
At 23, I was in Pune pursuing my MBA. That was the year I met Tarun who today is my husband. I was away from home in the true sense for the first time. I stayed with a room mate in a beautiful apartment. I studied, I dined out, I watched movies, I partied, I shopped, I got back home late. It was a beautiful life...it was when I got a chance to grow into the woman I am today.
Sadly 23 is when her life ended. She was pursuing her education and I am sure did the same things I did. But she never got the chance to enjoy that freedom.
I have seen so many people venting online about the situation in India, the safety of women, death penalty, castration so on and so forth. I do not have any solutions but this is what I have to say.
As an Indian woman I can confidently say that all us have been molested. We have been groped, we have been pinched, we have touched inappropriately. It usually starts when you are young and are not even really sure what has just happened. And then as you grow up you realize this is going to be pretty common.
There have been multiple times when I am walking alone on a street - sometimes even during the day, or getting back home late in the night with a boy that I have wondered, "What if I get raped/attacked/molested now?". It is sad that this is a question that I have asked myself multiple times, that I have felt this insecure and vulnerable...
For the longest time I could not get myself to read about the violence this girl was inflicted with. I thought about the worst things that could have happened and sadly when I read about it my fears were confirmed. What happened that night was havaniyat.
There are many solutions and ideas being discussed today but the success of it all is one - when this girl and her family has been served justice and two - when the thought, "What if I get raped/attacked/molested now?" never pops up in a girl's head.
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