Incident that shook the CONSCIENCE of the people of India and disturbed PEACE of my mind

This is my blog reflecting my thoughts about the tragic, horrifying rape incident that occurred in Delhi. Indeed, a very shameful act that shook the conscience of the people of India and led to the ‘WAKE UP CALL’ for the lazy, insensitive, heartless, corrupt governing system.  

 

This incident is NOT the first rape case in India. Women have continuously been prey to the hungry vultures in the past and not only in villages but major cities too. There has been long lasting history of huge number of cases in different regions within India and surprisingly many of them go unreported due to the defamation within the society that the victim faces or death threat from the accused on any kind of reporting. The dirty politics of money and power, the ineffective, adamant police, the ineffective functioning of the legal system, and above all the mindset of the society - all stand against the victims (as if they themselves are the culprits for the act). Of course, education plays a vital role but more than that family and social values are significant. It is the perception of the society that needs a change – the fragile mindset of the people towards a girl child, treating of women with disrespect and not showing equal concern and care for them. Men call themselves physically strong but it is the strengths about the strong principles, strong mindset, and equality within both the sexes that matters. Other important and the biggest factor with respect to Indian environment is the governing structure – loopholes within the legal system & its implementation.  

 

Who is to be blamed for such acts of shame?

Would it be the culprits, the government, or the loopholes within the system? Well, some even point out at the victims. The more number of people we ask, the more opinions one can get. But, the foremost and the primary are the people within the system. It is the uneducated small thinking mentality within our corrupt mindset, one’s moral values, our own ambiguous principles and the environment in which an individual is raised. So, in a way, the whole social system around us is to be blamed for such incidents and not actually the victims.

 

Nation WAKES UP…but at what cost?
 
I am glad that people of the nation awakened, became aware & stood together for a cause. They decided to revolt against the insensitive, ineffective government and forced the blind & deaf legal system to frame an action plan, provide justice and safety to its citizens. Fighting for a good cause is NEVER easy; it takes time and courage to build a momentum. But when I look back and think about such incidents, my mind goes blank and I pause and wonder over the dilemma that raises questions deep within my soul.

Is this NOT late? Should this have been done much earlier, then, would this brutality have been stopped? Could we have prevented and saved a young life from being tortured, ruined and murdered? Could we have had at least one less sacrifice? My mind, my soul is not willing to accept – why there have to be numerous SACRIFICES before the voices are raised. I am glad that people of the nation are outraged and demanding justice. We will definitely WIN the battle against the Heartless, Insensitive Government. But will this victory be effective enough to STOP such crimes in future or lead to resolve similar other cases in the past? Law will be passed; future changes in the legal process will be made, the culprits will also be punished but then another question that keeps on haunting me is “At what cost?” How can one measure this cost? I don’t think it would be ever possible to measure such costs. It is the cost at which a 23 year old girl’s life has been snatched and many other lives which have been made miserable with unbearable pain and unforgettable, un-erasable horrifying memories for their entire lifetime.

Journey To USA

It was Tuesday, 16th August 2005 - the day that I have been waiting for so long. Well, I was about to travel to USA for the first time in my life. Its not that I have never seen any foreign country before but yet there was lot of excitement. This journey was my first longest ever and I was the first one from my family to come to USA. It was indeed a proud moment. I was really happy as I was going for good into a new world.

Moving along the line at check-in counter, I faced a small trouble. I was asked by my friend to accommodate some of her stuff in my carry over luggage. I decided to help her but unfortunately could not open my luggage. Gosh! I had forgotten my combination. This was the first time such situation had occurred. I became worried as to how would I retrieve my immigration documents upon reaching USA.

So after almost 16-18 hours of journey to Chicago via London, I reached the Chicago airport immigration. I had mentioned the problem to the officer who was managing the queue and giving instructions. The officer immediately guided me to two other officers and the problem was taken care of. While this matter was being resolved, I helped an Indian couple (who were almost my parent's age). Actually, they were having a hard time in understanding the officer's conversation. The officer requested me to help them understand the matter. Thus, in a way, I acted as a translator and helped the couple. I was really happy and felt how good it is to be a "polyglot".

A Memorable experience with Habitat!

Habitat for Humanity is a non-profit organization that builds homes for low-income families with the help of volunteers in the community. I always had a wonderful experience working with the organization and I will be sharing one of my most beautiful memorable time in serving the community.

The first time I decided to work for habitat was during my "Service Learning Group Project" for business communication course. It was an activity required to complete the course successfully. It always have been a wonderful experience working with habitat. I had never thought that I would be building homes in USA, especially, being a finance major. But somethings are meant to be done at a particular time.

It was a first time experience and honestly, I was a bit nervous. But then, there is always a first time in life for everything. The nervousness was because it was a completely new environment and I was not sure of what will I be doing. But all this fear went off when I reached the site. There were lot of individuals and other groups present here who have not worked in a construction environment before. Habitat does require volunteers but one need not be a skilled professional to carry out the tasks on site. One good thing about working with habitat is that nobody feels aloof. Its like working within a huge family, with a set of individuals from different backgrounds, cultures and skills - all working towards an objective of providing a basic need to an individual or a family who cannot afford enough money to have a shelter.

I feel really blessed and lucky to be able to provide a helping hand for a good cause. I really enjoy working with so many wonderful people at habitat and it would be my pleasure to work for habitat again and again. In the end, I would encourage all of you who is reading my blog to definitely experience this feeling and feel PROUD for acting in the interests of the society.