Man enough to love a woman then be a man and respect a woman!

Raja Sharma : "An honestly simple yet complicated entertainer trying to figure out the paradox of our times "

Varanasi - New Delhi - Bombay. The three cities which I connect to and have spent almost equal amount of my 27 years of life. And whenever asked by even the marathi speaking dons of bombay(i mean c’mon its bombay not mumbai) i have always said the samething: Banaras mein Dhaam hai, Bumbai mein kaam hai lekin Dilli Meri Jaan hai.....and the words have barely left my tongue in the proudest of baritones my throat can create that i am almost looked down upon for associating myself with so much passion to a city known more for shutting down by 8pm than even the corrupt politicians that have made it their head quarters.

Yes the Capital is not safe!

And yes its because of most us. Lighting a candle in protests is good but thats not really the solution. A march or a protest for a rape victim who has even lost her life to the hooligans that walk the street is a sign of showing your support towards the victim. iss tareekay sey hum bimaar ka ilaaj kar rahein hain, bimaari kaa nahin!

Even Bombay or a Pune at times is not safe. But there is never a sense of fear amongst the ladies in these cities to take a walk past 11 pm.

Everytime a jerk letches at a G.K. 1 M-block market dont ignore him.....dont go fight him(though that would fix all the problems...but gandhiji wouldnt like it J )...i say letch back..make him embarrased. I know its always easier said then done...but i see it here in bombay. No one dares to treat a girl in a market space in such a manner.

Lets not forget even the pujaari's in the temple often suggest ki MAATAA KI pooja karo. For the simple reason that maataa ko manaanaa asaan hai, bajrang bali ko nahin.

So please..if you are man enough to love a woman then be a man and respect a woman! And if I have failed to make my point clear then in pure and simple words : A Safer city is a Sexier City !!

This Blog is part of the Men Say No Blogathon, encouraging men to take up action against the violence faced by women. More entries to the Blogathon can be read at www.mustbol.in/blogathon. Join further conversation on facebook.com/delhiyouth & twitter.com/mustbol. 

Time to speak up , Man.........

By Amitabh Kumar, Head of Media and Communication at Centre for Social Research and one of CSR’s gender trainers

It was 21:43 I had just finished dinner when I got a call from a Scottish friend of mine , usually her voice is full of life , positivity but tonight she sounded threatened , so much fear in her voice. She informed me that she was in an auto rickshaw on the ‘ Nelson Mandela Road ‘ and the driver who had been acting sleazy was slowing down in a dark patch, she was scared to death . I told her to be on the phone with me as I rushed to her. I live in J.N.U so was superbly close , as I raced my car to get to her, there was so much fear in me.

What if something happens to her ?
Should I ask her to call the cops ?
Should I ask friends in vasant kunj to get there ?
What am I supposed to do once I get there ?
Do I go all Rambo on the rickshaw driver and beat him to death ?
What if he is stronger or has a knife or a gun ?

Racing through the nelson mandela marg , almost getting into 2 accidents , I saw her standing in front of the b11 market , she was safe ! She got in the car I dropped her home. Afraid for all my other friends who commute at night , furious at bastards who do not respect women , and ashamed at how little I do to change the scenario I drove back.

I have spoken to many people about it since that night ,almost every one said ‘ well she should have not been taking an auto all alone after it gets dark’. The more I heard this answer the more it troubled me , half of my city lives in constant fear of the other half . And we instead of fighting back instead of saying lets find that auto rickshaw driver , put him in jail , beat him up , ensure he never drives an auto again , say ‘ DO NOT TAKE AN AUTO ALONE WHEN IT GETS DARK !!!!

We defend the guilty and blame the victim. With all honesty I hope I had told her note down the number of the auto , in my fear and first instinct of protection it did not occur to me, similarly I think it does not occur to us that avoiding this problem has lead it to take the epidemic dimensions it has today.

So why do I pen down all these thoughts ??

Because I believe its only by being able to express ourselves we can get to the next step of acting on it. So many times we feel so strongly about things but never express it because its not cool/not what people like to hear / cause we are not sure what we did was right or wrong.

This Blog is part of the Men Say No Blogathon, encouraging men to take up action against the violence faced by women. More entries to the Blogathon can be read at www.mustbol.in/blogathon. Join further conversation on facebook.com/delhiyouth & twitter.com/mustbol.