Yet
another gang rape. I am sure this is not the first one after the Delhi
nightmare but it got people outraged once again. Not sure why though. Maybe
because it happened in Mumbai, a city which took pride in being one of the
safest cities for its women or maybe because this time the victim is a young journalist.
Whatever be the reason, I am happy this time it is not the nauseating, stomach
churning brutality of the tragedy that got people outraged after the Delhi gang rape.
I always enjoy observing people’s reactions to a certain event. While in the
aftermath of Delhi tragedy, I was more interested in observing the reactions of
our leaders, both elected and self appointed (people who were forced to read my
blog post because I spammed their Facebook newsfeed, would know what I am
talking about), this time around I decided to observe how the aam janta reacts. Aam Indian janta comes in
so many different shapes, sizes and mindsets that analyzing their perspectives
makes you lose track of your own. However that risk is always worth taking and
so I did. It was hard though. Categorizing reactions of people without getting
judged was not easy. If I do a gender based analysis, I would be called a sexist.
If I do a region based analysis, I would be called a regionalist. And if I do a
religion based analysis? No. Hell No. So I chose the safest option, I analyzed
how people from different age groups react to the incidents of rapes.
15 – 25 years old : This age group seems to be most outraged and
frustrated of all. Outraged because, well they are young and almost everything
makes them angry. Frustrated because they think they have a solution (apparently
they have a solution to everything from corruption to crime to China), and it’s
pretty simple and easy to execute but for some reason our political set up is
not implementing it. So how do they take out their frustration? By having a
black dot or any other symbol of protest as their Facebook/Twitter display
picture, by sharing pictures of rapists getting punished in Saudi Arabia or Lebanon,
by writing blogs (just as I am doing) about the sick patriarchy, incapable
judiciary, inefficient police, impotent government and everything else they
hold responsible for the tragedy. Basically by ranting on internet. However, this age group is honest in its
reaction. As unreasonable as its outrage and frustration might be, it is not
opportunistic or pretentious. As trivial and lackadaisical its effort might be,
it’s honest and genuine.
25-65 years old : This is the age group which in reality has
the power to change things. Our billionaires, our idolized sport stars, our
corporate leaders, our beloved celebrities, our holy Godmen, our high
profile activists and our political leaders, in short the people who actually
run this country all fall under this age group. Unfortunately this is the age
group in which a man gets selfish and gets occupied with acquiring means to
give himself and his family a secured and better life and future. So everything
a man does in this age group stinks of opportunism and selfishness. Therefore
every reaction coming from this age group is well measured and accurately targeted
towards a goal which is not what it should be, that is safety of women. Politicians
indulge in blame game. Regional parties blame the influx of migrants,
opposition blames the ruling party and ruling party just condemns the occurrence
of the event and promises a quick and stern action. The celebrities fearing
backlash, make sure their reactions are subtle, full of emotion and concern but
lack sternness in their critique of political setup. Corporate is mostly
indifferent as they have their own problems to tackle. Activists, backed by corporate
which in turn is backed by political parties, do carry out dharnas and pradarshans
but they are mostly politically motivated than anything else. And all this
facilitated by media for which such tragedies are blessings in disguise as they
get lots of material for carrying out debates, discussions and special stories.
So we get to see, hear and read a lot about the reactions from this age group via media,
but those reactions are neither honest nor genuine.
