Here's an FU to the System

If at any point in time I was being harassed by sadak chap gundas, I’d expect to be helped. Not because I’m a single girl— trust me, I can take care of myself, but more so because it is the ethical thing to do. And if my man (provided I had one), was roughing it out with these goons, I would not expect bystanders to watch like they were watching some film ki shooting. So when I heard about Keenan Santos and Reuben Fernandez dying at the hands of hooligans who have no respect for women, I really felt the need to express my sadness, grief and anger.

By now, everyone knows what happened. Two innocent boys were just looking out for their women and in the bargain were stabbed to death. And while you’d expect the goons to be charged and punished almost immediately, that is not the case. But what do you expect from India, right? In a country where the system can screw you over, you hardly expect justice for young heroes. It so happens that these cowards, who obviously do not even have respect for their own mothers and sisters, have connections with the other goons in the country, the politicians. So how does one expect any justice for these lads?

Welcome to India, where we simultaneously deal with female infanticide on a daily basis, insist our country is Bharat Mata and pray to female goddesses for power, money and wisdom, a shameless man eves teasing women on the streets of Mumbai is ironical and of course, wrong. Where do you place him? He clearly doesn’t realize the respect we place on women in the country. Why not? Probably uneducated, illiterate, power and money hungry. Who do we blame for this? The government? Society?

This is not about anything but how eff’ed up the system is. When young Indians come out to do what our police should be doing and land up dead in the bargain, then you bloody hell know there is something very wrong. The system has to be defeated. If you commit a crime, irrespective of you who the hell you are, what connections you have and which social strata you belong to, you have to be punished.

What does the death of two innocent boys who only wanted to protect their girlfriends tell us? Besides the obvious— a flawed corrupt system; it tells us that the people of Mumbai are not safe on their city’s streets past 10 pm. For ages now, we’ve thrived on this very idea. "Mumbai is safer than Delhi," we tell everyone. Not the case anymore, clearly.

I think it’s fabulous that the youth of India are unhappy with the incident and are coming together to ensure that such a tragedy doesn’t occur again. There is zero tolerance for such terrible behavior. But no candlelight vigil, no protests, no Anna Hazare style andolan will help change what has happened. It is up to the youth to bring this issue to the forefront so much so that the system has to change. If this is how it is now, then you can only imagine what the city will come to in the future.

As for the criminals, they seem to be showing no remorse I hear. If this is how they show their mardangi, then castrate them I say. They’ve lived life thinking with the wrong head; eliminate it. Trust me, saari ki saari mardangi nikaal aayegi. And if you were one of the bystanders who stood and watched, I hope you never cross paths with me. Cause the gaalis you’ll hear from me, you’ll wish you weren’t born. You’re as guilty, if not more guilty.

It’s really hard sometimes to blog about issues that bug me sitting on the opposite side of the hemisphere. This is one such case. If this case isn’t fast tracked, given special attention/consideration and the criminals aren’t punished severely, I’ll be bloody pissed off. I do hope justice prevails for both the young boys. They deserve it. These are in every sense of the phrase modern day heroes. #Respect.