I am numbed with anger and disbelief as I see the tamasha that is unfolding on the Indian news channels. One girl's tragedy is being used by everyone to further their agenda. What's the point of it all when even today, in educated homes, a girl's birth is a deep disappointment while a boy gets away with murder? We write eloquently about "India's daughter" but rapes continue on the roads of India. Do we even understand what it means to have true equality? We are a nation of big words and speeches, and zero action. In this case the action is required at the micro level, at the home level. Not possible. Because as much as we love to glorify our "traditions" and "culture", our culture is full of inequality, racism and sexism. As much as I would like to think big and hope that change might actually come about, I know it won't. Because we treat our daughters and our sons more differently than we would like to admit to the world.
Pure pain is deeper than words. Look at your daughter and hold her a little bit tighter today, love her like she truly deserves. Hold your son gently, compassionately too, and help him understand that some things are just wrong. No elaborate mathematical formula is required to figure out that this is, above all, a parenting issue. We fail both our daughters and our sons if we don't get this right.
And for truth's sake, stop the glorification of that poor girl's tragedy. She didn't ask to be a martyr. She didn't step out of the cinema hall that fateful night wanting to be the champion of women's rights in India. Can't the media in india, for once, get it's f-ing act straight?
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