Monday, April 22, 2013

You can put the Blame on....

When I came to Mumbai, I got mixed reactions from people regarding how safe Mumbai was compared to Delhi!

Some people said that it was very safe compared to Delhi, some said it was as bad. Fact is, 5 months on, I don‘t know what‘s true!

Yes I agree, people in Mumbai are less judgemental than those in Delhi. And I'm not just talking of those roadside romeos - I'm talking about people in general - girls and boys. I would feel far more comfortable wearing a dress on the roads on Mumbai, than in Delhi!

Now, after there have been 2 horrendous attacks in the capital, the question becomes even more pertinent. Why do people is Delhi a sort of Rape capital? To put it more crudely - why are men in the capital, and actually all over north India, more desperate than men in the rest of India??!!
Talk of any sort of sexual crimes and the cities in the north come to light before any other part of the country?! And that‘s where they worship female deities the most!

Is there a connection? I wonder, if we implemented the kind of punishments meted out in Arabic countries, wouldn't it help?!

In December after the first incident took place, there were thousands of protests across Delhi and many other parts of the country. Now, 4 months later, with all the new laws and regulations in place, we still had an encore! Why?

Is it just the police? Is it just the government? I'll bet half the people who took to the streets have some sort of eve teasing record to their name! So why is it, that every time we start the blame game, we tend to turn to the police or government? Is it cause we don't know who else to put the blame on?

Well for starters, how about upbringing? How many kids (esp boys) in India are taught that if they are not given something when they ask nicely, they should learn to stand up and demand it, until they get it - stand up for your right? Well, from a rapists perspective, he demands that the girl sleeps with him, if she doesn't he will stalk her, and if she still doesn't then... sounds absurd right?

How many people in our country still believe that men can (and have the right to) control women? When I say people here, I mean all genders!

Fact still remains, we don't know who to blame when a man violates a women - sexually or mentally!

Sunday, April 21, 2013

Can you live without the Internet?

Sometime last year, I wrote a post about how life would be without the internet! To be honest, I thought it would be very boring - and maybe it would!

The last few months, I have sort of restricted my use of the Internet... not by choice! I have a netbook, which does not allow certain device drivers required for using a data card. So my quick fix - hotspot on my phone.

Flipside of this is, I cannot use the internet as much as I‘d probably have liked to! For instance... I cannot watch movies online or download movies, songs or tv shows! But I‘m still doing everything I would otherwise have done.

For instance, right now, to write this blog, I‘m using my phone, instead of the laptop... for reasons best known to me...

The fact is, I would love to test the limit of living without the laptop, instead of without the Internet (which proves far far more challenging!).

Life without the Internet, includes life without Whatsapp!! Which means I pay for all my texts! I doubt I can live without being in touch through some medium!! In fact, I doubt anyone with a smartphone would be upto the challenge!?