Nirbhaya Lives...

A few days back, I passed by the Novena Medical Center in Singapore - this is where our Nirbhaya, India's daughter, was brought for treatment and sadly she passed away... Seeing the hospital again, the second time after August 2014 brought harrowing memories of the incident of December 2012.

And then when I heard about the BBC documentary on India's daughter, Nirbhaya, I was flabbergasted... How the hell could we give so much importance to the depraved perpetrator of the crime? How the hell could we tolerate the propagation of the wicked mentality the defence lawyers seem to be having?

I fully supported the government when it came to the ban on the screening of the documentary in the country. Twitter and Facebook were awash with statistics on rapes and crimes against women in the West, particularly, New York City, the United Kingdom, yet we were being shown in a poor light... Why? Why? Why?

Last morning, I came across a website that has somehow escaped the internet filters and carried the documentary in full. That's when I realised, we probably need to be brave enough to deal with it...

Indeed, the documentary showed India in a poor light. It was gut-wrenching and I watched it with tears in my eyes... At a certain moment, it was too much for me to take and I had to walk out...

But these are the harsh realities of life, the realities that we have to face and overcome, if we are to grow as an economy.

The mentality of the rapists and their lawyers hit me hard, but that is the way some men are, not only in India but the world over.

But today what concerns me is that all this is happening in my country. This is the land that venerates the devi, the mother goddess. This is the society that treks up 13 kilometers to Vaishno Devi's cave, this is the society that celebrates the victory of Maa Durga over evil. This is the nation that produced women like Razia Sultana and Jhansi ki Rani. 

This is the nation that produced one of the world's finest women statesman, Indira Gandhi, who led India to its moment of glory in military history in the 1971 war and was later venerated as the modern Durga in parliament by none other than Atal Behari Vajpayeeji...

So it two Indias we have today?

One that sees women as partners and the other that sees women as objects, to be used and thrown...

Perhaps, yes, this is the reality - we have two societies..., two Indias...

There is no disputing the fact that depraved perpetrators (the juvenile included) of the Nirbhaya rape deserve an exemplary punishment, chemical castration followed by an execution, there is a need to ensure that the "other" India is lifted up....

And I see no way that can happen without two necessary conditions - secular economic growth and wholesome education...

A secular economic growth that spans at least two to three decades will lift the entire society. The feeling of economic well-being would being about a sense of positivity and well being that would reduce gender differences as such...

Secondly, but, more importantly, our menfolk, our male children need to be educated to respect. It all begins at home - when the boys see their parents treating their sisters as equals they too will grow up to be positive individuals. They will learn to respect and love women as equals... And we need to inspire our little girls to be ambitious, to have their individuality and a unique identity. The symbolism that was on display at the Republic Day celebrations is a softer way in which the Modi administration is nudging India towards gender equality... and this is indeed admirable.

That doesn't take away the need to make our women strong and independent. We need to make the girl in every home a Durga, a Jhansi ki Rani, an Indira Gandhi, a Kiran Bedi and our parents are responsible for that...

The press too plays a vital part. Instead of sensationalising stuff, we need positive news coming around of how women are succeeding and fighting back. Recently, I read this article in Singapore's Straits Times on how girls in Delhi are fighting it out. Perhaps our press needs to reflect on their style of reporting too..

Nirbhaya may have died, but the flame of her struggle is indeed strong enough to light up over a billion candles that will make India a brighter place, for all, including 50% of its population...