A Positive Road Map

After the first post, I got stuck. So many issues and ideas flooded my mind and I tried to pick an issue that has been of an interest to me personally. Interest may be too romantic a word at this stage. I should say an issue that got me thinking deeply. I wondered about the Mayan prophecy and was eager to know the outcome on December 21, 2012. It was mesmerizing to hear of different theories pertaining to the prophecy. People were really into it and honestly, I did wonder what would happen. I followed the mass to see how people would react. December 21, 2012 came and went. The world I live in did not collapse but a revolution started. What was talked within the confined boundaries became a global issue.

The unimaginable rape of AMANAT on December 16, 2012 in New Delhi, India jolted the very Earth that we live in. The tremors were so personal that it rocked every beating heart and most of us were forced to re-think and re-visit our personal stance against gender based violence and to be more precise; violence against women. My first observation was that people were not cynical of the victim. I have witnessed how people comment to the victims like she deserved it or if that is how you dress and behave then naturally, but this time, the reaction was completely emotional, angry, youth-oriented, non-political initially and even intellectual. It did not remain a rape issue. Every individual who has the capacity to think was forced to give it a thought and react; socially, locally, globally or personally on issues related to harassment (of any form).

This time, the issue is discussed widely and much to my surprise, people are not irritated and you rarely hear people say,” Not this topic again.” I take this positively as this is an indication that the social change process has been initiated. People sense the time has come to evaluate and assess the dogma which prevails the value system. At one hand the “society” is focused on the dos and donts and still try to closet the social issues but on the other hand, children grow up reading and watching the very essence of the facts of life which should be explained to them in the first place. Not talking about safe and consensual sex, birth control modes, menstruation, abortion, drugs etc., adds to the confusion and experimentation which can go horribly wrong. The very word sex is uttered with smirk or embarrassment rather than just another word like god. The more we try to hide, the worse it gets. When we can surf everything in the net, when we have the capacity to read, when the market is flooded with dance bars and movies becoming bolder as we move on then why not take the moment to sit and try to internalize our thought process and just be bold enough to have a conversation about these issues?

Change is a challenging process hence it is understandable that changing the mind-set of an individual is a difficult task. It is hard but not undoable. There is no need to start with a bigger agenda. Let us just focus now on our daily activities and self-assess how we perceive these socially tabooed issues. Do we actually think it is time for us to speak and react or are we also in the trap of thinking I do not need to think about this because either it has not happened to me or I don’t give a damn. My take on this is that it is irrelevant whether I have been harassed or whether I am discriminated because of my gender. What is important to me is that I cannot sit and watch the issues being manipulated for ulterior motives other than justice to the victim and awareness of the mass.

Life does not come in ready-made packages. We make it bitter or sweet. The initiative is the hardest part but once we start anything, things move accordingly. New Year is here and instead of making resolutions which are bound to be manipulated for my own benefit, I have joined hands with thousands of individuals who are working, acting and processing every day to ensure better living conditions for the HUMANS. I have not promised anything BIG but what I have committed to myself is to be positive and open minded about the social change movement and is working towards guiding and assisting individuals who would appreciate a hand in creating awareness no matter how big or small it maybe.

I started the first step, what about you??????

Labanya