I Believe.

I need to talk about this.

After some serious internal debate, I concluded that I Must say something. Especially since I Have been thinking about it. Except I don't know how to start.

So Shobha De says she will not ask her daughters to carry pepper spray 'just in case', the PM of the country says that being the father of 3 girls, he understands the outrage and the rest of the country is equally shaken.
Yes, I'm talking about the heinous crime that has horrified the nation of 1 billion citizens. Mothers are increasingly worried, elsewhere restrictions are imposed on women for 'their own safety' and people from all corners of the subcontinent are aware of the shameful truth.

True, one can spent hours lamenting over the bitter reality of safety of women in India, but that is not the purpose of this post.

Why does such behaviour arise? Is it a traumatic upbringing? What happened to morals and values? One does not need Education to differentiate between good and bad.
Rich or poor, any family has the moral obligation to inculcate good values in their offspring. The role of the family is of equal importance when any offender is considered. What happened to society? Doesn't it care anymore? Thousands of such individuals are present in society, in desperate need of rehabilitation. But we as the society, choose to turn a blind eye towards these individuals until it is too late.
Our society needs to provide equal importance to the psychological wellbeing of its citizens. Value based education must be provided to all citizens and a rehabilitation program for delinquents in society. I strongly believe that harsh punishment will not weed out the problem in entirety. It is the mindset that must change. True, that means I'm referring to an abnormally huge population, but only that can truly make the nation safe for its women. Merely creating fear of punishment will not end the menace.

I don't remember the exact quote but it's from one of Sudha Murty's books. She ends a story on gender inequality with a Sanskrit verse (yathra narya...) which means "Where women are respected and honoured, that nation will flourish."

I pray that she survives the ordeal and achieves her goals in life. I hope the guilty are punished and that such incidents will soon be a thing of the past.

*I don't mean to hurt or offend anybody. I only hope that the issue is tackled from the grassroots level.