Keep The Fire Burning

Friends, Delhites and Countrymen,

The New Year is upon us. The beginning of the New Year is a time for fresh starts and second chances. It is a time to make changes in our lives and in those of others. It is the time to leave things behind but I would hope that one of the things we choose not to leave behind is the determination and outrage that has forced us to take to the streets and demand justice for the anonymous rape victim, to demand that our country and especially our nation’s capital be places where women feel safe and protected.

The month of December has seen the youth of Delhi take to the streets in outrage. I would like to believe this is because the latest case, where a girl was gang-raped in a moving bus, was the final straw that broke the camel’s back. That it was the catalyst that would not allow us to silently accept things as they were anymore. However I find myself wondering how many people were present at the many protests because it was the “cool and fashionable” thing to do and how many people where there because they truly want Indian women to feel safe and the perpetrators of these crimes to be punished.

Along with the rest of the country I too watched the zealous protestors on the news and read about them in the papers. It makes me hope that the people who were there for the right reasons far outnumber those that were there for superficial reasons. But it remains to be seen if this “movement” is a flash-bang grenade or a steady ever increasing flame.

One of the ways that we can ensure that the movement is not easily forgotten is to, often and openly, talk about the issues that have been raised and the possible solutions that we can come up with, to educate those around us until there is not a single Indian left who does not understand what we hope to achieve.

The effectiveness of a movement is directly proportionate to its staying power. All successful movements in history have been able to sustain themselves and instill hope in their supporters and member for years and even decades at a time! The movement that we have begun, the struggle to keep the fairer half of our population safe is one that deserves all the fuel it can get. It needs to keep steady and remain in the foreground until the government and society takes the kinds of actions that need to be taken, not rise up fast and passionate every time there is a horrific incident reported by the media  but die down just as fast having made no effective difference.

Dear country, it is no longer enough to just let the victims and society know that you care, you must step up and help in the process of change. Actions speak louder than words, the old saying holds true even now!

This movement is close to all our hearts and it is our duty to ensure that the fire keeps burning and that our efforts bear fruit.

Let the New Year see us keep up our efforts with new vigor and determination!!  

Be Silent & Expect A Riot

As students of Sociology, one of the things that we study is “Social Change”. To me that means studying the actions and motivations of those people and groups who have been able to bring about change in the society to which they belong and being inspired.

Both our definitions, Sociology’s and mine, may differ but that’s what it’s about, an amalgamation and fusion of different ideas and points of view.

Yesterday while writing an essay during an exam it struck me that each and every one of us is an agent of change. It’s just that most of us are dormant and accept the world’s wrongs as unchangeable truths. To me, it is quite depressing that so few of us have in us the fire, the predisposition to stand up and speak out when we don’t see the fairness of the situation.

It’s true that the world is not fair but be sure that if you don’t do something to make it a fairer place someone else will! The unfortunate thing about not being involved in the process of change is that your ideas and beliefs may well be left out.

It is my belief that it is these people who did not participate in the process of change, who wake up later demanding to be included, who cause strife and discord in society. When these people are pushy, stubborn and have a false sense of entitlement it leads to violence and riots.

While it’s true that riots have many reasons and many faces, I feel this is the root cause. People want to be included, to feel that they too have a voice, they too are heard and when they feel like their ideas and thoughts are going unheard they become angry and frustrated. The venting of this anger and frustration on innocents leads to riots.

So be silent and expect a riot…

Speak up while the time is right; don’t wait till it’s too late.