I struggle to find a 'title' of this post!

'They' have done it again! The young photo-journalist was on her job with her colleague. 'They' had made it clear where she supposedly belongs. This time 'they' did not kill her. Rather, 'they' made her clean the spot to remove all the evidences. But, at the end, she did not go home to weep. She went straight to the police station with her colleague and registered a complaint, and police acted swiftly to catch all the culprits. The mother of one accused also wanted her son to be punished if her son has done the gruesome act on that women!

What did others say immediately? The very next day, one women writer from West Bengal, who has written prolifically on women issues, summarized the incident, along with 'growing' other rape incidents in India, as the effect of consumerism based culture; another way to say it as the effect of western culture. It immediately reminded me what Mohan Bhagwat (chief of RSS) told after the Nirbhaya incident in Delhi: "Crime against women happening in urban India is shameful .. such crimes would never happen in Bharat (implicitly in Hindu Bharat) ... there will be no such incidents of gangrape or sex crimes. Where 'Bharat' becomes 'India' with the influence of western culture, these type of incidents happen." Personally I know many people who hold similar views. Are these people not aware that they are even factually wrong? Or they do know, but always want to pass the issue in the name of western culture to save our 'sacred' past! It simply shows that they neither know India, nor Bharat! It is clear that sexual violence against women in 'consumerized' western society are far lesser than in India. Do I have to believe that the greatest proponent of the consumerism, the USA has more number of sexual violence against women than our 'just affected' westernized India? 

In recent time, there are many headlines saying that the violence against women are growing. I strongly doubt the statistics. There is absolutely no credible data available even for 50 years ago. How many incidents got unnoticed even few years before? The very next day the incident in Mumbai happened, a women police officer in Jharkhand was raped. The next day, the TOI had the headline about a dalit girl who was raped few months earlier by an upper cast guy from her village and subsequently her mother was killed. Police did not do anything. The desperate father finally had approached the supreme court. There were innumerable incidents earlier that we did not even know or we have accepted or the victims were forced to accept. Thanks to the strong media, and thanks to these courageous women and their families that these are coming out to all of us. The victims (and collectively the society) are no longer ready to accept what has been thrown on them for years. The  incident in Kamduni village in my state has become a glaring example.

But why the violence against women is so common in India, even in absolute number? We can not do away from it just by saying that it is the effect of western culture, consumerism etc. As I mentioned earlier, it is factually wrong. The answer lies in the sick old mentality of Indian society towards women, and surely also about sex. The mentality about women was well summarized (I can not do better here) by Asaram Bapu (now accused of sexual crime) just after the Nirbhaya incidence in Delhi. He said, ".. she should have taken God's name and could have held the hand of one of the men and said I consider you as my brother and .. that I am helpless, .. my religious brother. She should held their hands and feet... then the misconduct wouldn't have happened." The defense lawyer of Nirbhya case commented about Nirbhyaya ".. if my daughter was having premarital sex and moving around at night with her boyfriend, I would have burnt her alive. I would not have let this situation happen. All parents should adopt such an attitude." I wondered what he would have done to his son in a similar situation. This is the way we would treat our girls and expect our country to be violence free against women! The so called consumerist society had placed women in the same paddle where men are, but it is only probably we Indians who have taken women as 'consumers'. 

It has been frequently argued that Hindi movies are having bad effects in our society, particularly about the attitude towards women. I do agree completely. We are becoming habitual from Munni to Sheila, but this vulgarism has nothing to do with western effects. How many western movies we know where women are portrayed like commodities? These people are honest to show the nudity and sex in the movies, and we pretend it does not exist. We have rather decided to show women and girls as 'items' in the movies. It is we only who are responsible for this, no one else!

Now come to my other point on the attitude of Indian people about sex. In our society, we hide the word 'sex' in the newspaper when parents/seniors are there. We grow up in an atmosphere where sex is always forbidden to talk and discuss. This mentality naturally gives rise to the obsession to forbidden. We tend not to appreciate that sex is an important part of human life, but also to remember that it is not the most important part of life. Unfortunately the situation is so bad that it percolates heavily even to middle aged people. The women and the girls are always vulnerable to the direct or indirect sexual harassment in their day-to-day life in India. No one knows better than any working lady or college going student. But, do we see these absurdity in any European and American countries? We must have a modern view to the sex and the sexuality.

Four victims of the Delhi rape incidents were convicted to death. In the last effort to save his client's life, the defense lawyer invoked Gandhi. At the core, he was correct. Sentencing these people to death can not be the solution. It is clear from our past experiences. Sentencing people to death will surely scare some people, but we know that is not a good idea to make anything work in a long run.

Am I frustrated with the 'recent surge of violence against women'? Absolutely not! Although each incident is pathetic to say the least, but they are coming with rays of hopes. The Indian society is going through a great deal of churning processes. Surely, we are paying costly price that is not recoverable, but women who could not speak earlier are now speaking. There were thousands of rape victims that we did not even know about earlier. Now women are making it clear that they are no longer ready to accept it. Justice processes have also started to work. But the real change will only happen when we would be able to have women in economically and socially at the same status where men are now today. The process has just started.

Bombay incident is nothing but saying this brave working girl "You should not be here .. you see how helpless you are." Sexual abuse against women happens not mainly because of any individual's lust, but mostly it happens because the individual's belief that he can just get away with it. We have to uproot this mentality from our society completely. And, also let us be little funny about sex and sexuality; it is not so serious, it is not so bad; it is just natural! Our upbringing from the childhood must take this route, not the convoluted path to the 'sacred sex'. Where do I see India twenty years down the line about this issue? Violence against women will become much lesser tomorrow as India moves towards a modern, economically strong society where women also participates in every sphere of life.

In reality, I would like to see few changes happening as soon as possible. Firstly, we should completely abolish the idea of boys' and girls' school concept from our education structure. The concept is outdated and no longer required. Secondly, the government must incentivize women to take jobs those are traditionally being done by men only. To break out the patriarchal society, we just need to take the issue straight ahead.

I was visiting Munich last month, and on the way to the city from the airport, I took a little unconventional route this time to save some time. It was around 10 in the night and I was waiting at a deserted bus-stop just outside of the city. A teenager girl came in a while followed by few young boys of her age. It seemed they did not know each other. But, within a few minutes they were able to strike a conversation about German politics - national election was within a week. We all took the same bus, and the girl left after few stops, saying good-bye to everyone with a smiling face! If we can come up with a society where the boys and the girls mingle in this fashion, we no longer have to worry about any girl/women be sexually assaulted the every other day.

Hey, Happy Puja 2013! Have fun :)

A Comment

Happy Independence Day! :)

A debate has spiraled out for good, but by bad reasons. Before it is gone into oblivion, allow me to make a comment here! 

It started with an interview by economist Amartya Sen. In the interview, Mr. Sen expressed his doubts in the development model of Gujrat by Narendra Modi. Specifically, he commented ".. he(Modi) could have taken note of the fact that Gujrat's record in education and healthcare is very bad. He needs to concentrate on that as much as he is concentrating on physical infrastructure." In the same interview he said "As an Indian citizen, I could say we Indians don't want a situation where the minorities feel insecure and could legitimately think that there was an organized violence against them in 2002. That's a terrible record. .. As an Indian citizen I don't want an Indian prime minister who has that kind of record. I do not want Modi to be my prime minister." 

As soon as the news broke out, the hell fell apart. One BJP MP Chandan Mitra pounded on Mr. Sen, and he wanted 'Bharat Ratna' award to be taken away from Mr. Sen for his comments. Very soon another BJP leader Kirti Azad commented that 'Sen should concentrate on his own work'. Fortunately the main opposition party BJP distanced itself immediately from these comments. 

These comments by Mr. Mitra and Mr. Azad show the overall mentality of the political class in India. Similar kind of comments were made earlier numerous number of times by politicians across the board. The assumption is that the political class only will speak about politics and people from any other section of the society must concentrate in 'their own work'. It is not about who said what, and whether you agree with that point or not. It is about the very mentality of the political class who purposefully does not want any other section of society to take part in issues related to the politics!

People outside the politics are equally responsible for this state of affair. In India it is very pity to see that well known people outside of active politics (say film celebrities, sports persons, singers etc) do not express their political views in public. Their only political participation, if at all, is going to the voting center and showing the colored finger to the camera. The idea is that I must be busy with my work and and I leave you (politicians) to take care of the country. If something goes wrong, surely I will blame you via facebook and twitter. 

The situation is very contrasting to the countries where the democracy is much more matured. In these countries, we see very often that the 'big-shots' take clear political positions, particularly before the elections, raise money and also campaign. They are proud of their political views and do express it as and when it is necessary. On the other hand, in India our celebrities or idols are always eager to hide their political views or inclination. It is important to note that the political views of notable persons do matter in public space. A good number of people love them and would like to listen to them, often more than the politicians! Thus it is an imperative responsibility of the well known people from the non-political class of the society to make their voice clear and heard. It is disgusting to see film superstars or cricket idols saying that he/she is not a political person. What is so wrong with the politics? It is as bad as we are collectively. Let's not shy away from politics, but be a part of it. Have a political view; be expressive about it, and also try to influence others in our own capacities. 

I strongly support the idea of Amartya Sen talking about whether he would like to see Mr. Modi as next Indian prime minister. I may or may not agree with his point, but his opinion is well taken and well heard. In the end, he has the every right to say what he thinks and what he believes. 

Before I sign-off: Narendra Modi started to take Rs 5 from the attendees of his political rallies. He claims that the raised money will cover the cost of the venue and organizational expenditures. This is an excellent idea, far better than extorting money from the local businessmen before organizing any sort of program like this.

A Letter to Anna

(Originally written for IISER, Bhopal annual magazine Uday-2013)

Dear Anna,

                 

I am a teacher, a profession I had dreamt of pursuing, and I am presently staying in this beautiful city of Bhopal. The other day, all of a sudden, I planned to visit  my uncle in Nagpur. As you know, getting a train ticket nowadays requires more planning than any Indian marriage! My only option therefore was to try my luck at getting a tatkal (emergency) ticket. A travel agent at a nearby shopping mall does this job for a few extra hundred. He knows 'those people'! But, thanks to your effort in this regard, things are not the same as before! I vowed to fight it out as much as I can. It might be that I won't be able to walk until the last mile, but I had decided that I will walk long. You inspired me!

So, my own journey began with getting up at 6.30 in the morning and arriving at the Bhopal railway station on my newly bought moped! There was already a long confused queue to get a token. A young chap in front of me explained the procedures. Soon we realized that the token machine was not working, and after some 'Halla-bol' the railway officials decided to write the token numbers on the applications forms. Needless to say, the queue was filled with touts who repeatedly mentioned why it was impossible to get tatkal tickets without paying money to them! Ignoring them I stuck to my gun, along with the young chap. Even when we were told that every person would get only one token number, the touts in front of us got many forms marked. Honestly, I did not bother! I just wanted  my ticket so that I could visit my uncle. Finally I got my number - 227, but without any idea what it meant! I reminded myself 'First thing first', and waited patiently for my number to appear in the electronic display board. "Yes!" It was counter number 12 and hurriedly ran to the counter. I fumbled with the form and the lady at the counter was rude. Then she said, "Seven twenty six". I wondered and asked, "Do I have a ticket?" She casually replied, "Only if you pay the money before it is gone!" I screamed with overwhelming joy, and immediately embarrassed myself in front of all the people.

Honestly, paying those extra few hundred rupees to my travel agent to get a tatkal ticket could have been much easier, but as I said, things were not the same! Thanks to you again! But, why am I telling you this? 

No, I am not writing to tell you this familiar story, but to tell you why this story is not workable! In recent times, you and your associates had brought the issue  of corruption in the forefront, and argued strongly why an institution like Lokpal may help in curbing it. In my judgement, it will not! Your proposed Lokpal does not look at 'why' and 'how' corruption happens. Instead, it focuses only on 'who', as it tries to find and punish corrupt individuals or groups. I believe, given a chance, people are easily corruptible. It can be argued that on moral values we should not take or give bribes! I am sorry to say that some of the bad human qualities are in every human being's genes, and many of our moral uplifts are against those genes! But, we cannot let our country lose crores of rupees on the moral values of a minister, a bureaucrat, a clerk in the municipal office, or a common citizen like me. Policing, and subsequently punishing people also cannot fix the issue. If someone is honest, well and good, but if not, the system must be such that the chances of being corrupt  and making others corrupt get reduced to a satisfactory level. Today, I amy be ready to walk a few extra miles to buy my tatkal ticket, but tomorrow I may not be! Should I then be allowed to bribe? In many western countries, corruption in day-to-day life is mostly absent. They do not pay a bribe to get a driving license; neither do they pay a bribe to the police officials for address verifications. Do we have to believe that people in those countries are morally much superior to those in India? Therefore, the solutions lie in finding systematic changes where people do not get chances of being corrupt or making others corrupt. We must dive into the core of the issue!

What do I mean by systematic changes? When I was discussing this issue with my wife one Sturday morning,  she mentioned casually, "We need to book the cooking gas!" It took me few sec to do it over the mobile phone, while continuing the discussion. Now, take flash back to 10 years. First of all, getting a gas connection then was like winning a lottery. Secondly, we had to go to an office to book a gas and there was a good chance that the clerk would ask for Rs 10 to book it. Even today, the story is similar for most of the Government offices where there are 'human links', in this case, the clerk and any citizen, to get a public work done. Now, I do not pay that very important Rs 10 to book my gas, as the clerk no longer exists. The work now is being done by a machine, and thankfully that is not corruptible. Wherever a citizen need to encounter any official for public works, each step must be electronically registered with date and time! Your Citizen's Charter had made some wonderful suggestions along this line.

Now, take the example of tatkal tickets that I started with! Why is there so much corruption associated with these tickets? It is simply because the tickets are scarce! In anything is scare, everyone wants to have it, and even at the cost of corruptions.  Whenever there is clear mismatch between demand and supply, certain individuals in the society take advantage of it. Have we heard of corruption in airlines tickets sales? We pay more to some private companies, but government also gets tax proportionally. In a similar fashion, if we reform the railway services so that tickets are no longer coveted, those touts will no longer exist! We cannot  get rid of corruption by stationing the police officials during tatkal ticket selling, but by removing the possibility of tatkal ticket itself. Take another example of public food distributions systems (rationing) in India. A large amount of invested resources get channeled to the people who do not deserve it. The solution lies in looking into the issue of how it happens. Possibly, giving money directly to the underprivileged people, who can buy food grains from the open market, is a better options. On the other hand, large-scale corruption can also be easily handled with minute changes in the already existing systems, for example making the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) a constitutional authority as like the Election Commission or Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG). We now understand how these last two pillars of Indian democracy are contributing to our nation building.     

BY the way, am I undermining moral values like honesty? Sincerely not! Honesty is one of the greatest human values, and we must strive for it. This is our core! Any systematic policy change that I was talking about has to come from some individual's absolute integrity and honesty. But, we cannot leave things on people's moral status; neither should we focus our solutions of corruption in punishing. Finally, take the example of students copying answers during the examination. I recently faced this issue at my institution. We may claim that the students should be ethical and they should not copy. I agree, and we must teach them about the scholarly ethics! But a simple solution, as one of my colleague suggested, is to to keep the sitting arrangements during the examinations such that the students cannot copy, even if they want to! I hope you ponder over my thoughts!

I will look forward for your reply. I wish your good health and hope to meet you one day!

Rituparno and I

Dear Rituparno-da,

I did not know you unless everyone started to talk about your films. I did not even know about Hirer Angti! One of my close friends Santanu used to watch one movie every week during my college days. But I had an understanding with him. The movies that I will watch with him had to be in Bengali. In mid-nineties, middle class bengali people started to be back at the movie theaters, so did we! And you indeed started to play some instrumental roles in this regard. So we watched Unishe April and Dohon. You received many national and international accolades. I liked those movies, but honestly, not that great! Still the fact that we used to go to the theatres for Bengali movies was somewhat exciting for me in those days.

Time passed by .. I saw few of your subsequent movies like Raincoat and Antarmahal. I liked those, but I skipped most of your other movies! Many of my friends and relatives kept me updated; they mostly commented that you are doing movies on unnecessarily complicated topics. I refrained myself from commenting. In the mean time, even though I did not follow your movies, I tried to follow your changes in personal life (as much as I could from the media), and sincerely read your interviews. You started to be vocal about the voices of 'those people'. In cinematic form, it culminated by doing movies like  Arekti Premer Golpo and Chitrangada.

By now, in many conversations and chat shows you started to put emphatic stress on how we should not worry, and thus making judgements, too much about a person's sexual behavior or preferences. You kept repeating how we better focus only on human values. I was learning. Over the years, you became the voice of  a large section of people you are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT). In last years, you practiced the lifestyle of LGBT communities, thus giving them a strong platform to speak out. Common people on the other hand started to bring the topic at the breakfast table to the adda at the tea-stall. It was no longer an issue that we always wanted to put under the carpet and pretend of not knowing it. This was particularly important  with the Indian mind-set. At the same time, the Indian court dismissed the criminal charges for homosexuality. It was a tremendous progress from the institutional side.  

But, why am I telling you all these? I also have a personal story to share with you! Few months back, I was staying at Bhopal for over an year. I was at home alone one morning as my wife had gone for the computer class. Someone knocked on the door. Once I opened the door, the person clapped his/her hands and asked for some money. Looking at him/her I had an wonderful feeling deep down my heart for the first time in my life. From my early childhood, I have seen people saying many wrong words about them. But, there I was standing in front him/her with a blissful feeling, something that we all look for! I took fifty rupees out of my wallet and in passing said "Khush rohiye(Be happy)". Both of us had the eye contact briefly, and I saw tears in the eyes! He/she knew, I knew, it was not the money! It was that moment, the eternal connection between two human being makes us moving. He/she put his/her hands on my head and blessed. Immediately, I bowed down to you with the offering of my regards. I had never seen you in person, but I felt very close to you at that moment. For me, it is you only who taught me to change my notion and perspective.

I was in my office at Kolkata when I got the news of your death. I was shocked, and during lunch, people talked about your movies, and I kept myself quiet remembering few little things. My sister called me in the evening with a shattering voice that she can not imagine herself not reading the First person anymore in Pratidin-Robbar. Next day morning, we all saw your calm face in the glass box. I was happy! You had put the candle on in many people's mind. Now it is our collective responsibilities to keep the candle burning brighter. All human being are the same and everyone deserves dignified treatment from the society irrespective of anyone's personal attachment to color, creed, religion etc, including sexual behavior or status.  

I do not know where are you resting! Wherever it is is, I am sure you are in peace. My sincere regards to you as a super-human-being. You are the real superman of this time. You looked further, far ahead of your time. 

Best,

Koushik