I WISH I COULD BE YOU..LAILA!!

I finally came out of my Cine-Bad luck record..Paisa Vasooled after a long time..

I was in Kolkata on company business and got time post work to catch a movie

Zindagi Milegi Na Dobara was a totally refreshing movie..It  was much like a Lonely Planet show..Spanish tourism is bound to get a boost.

Another reason why I probably am singing in praise is because I was able to establish a connect with Laila(played with Katrina) before you Kat Fans get offended I am aware Katrina is light years  away from any girl next door in terms of pulchritude.

No I am not a deep sea diver like Laila.. rather I just have had the practice of  swimming  ..I fear the deep end. Laila talks about what she wants from life

“Meeting new people  and experiencing new at every point in life”

That  sounded so much like a soliloquy to me.

I ‘ve so wanted to see the country and the world..and I don’t have a problem doing it alone..
But there are things to stop me in this pursuit!

     As I was going to bed ruminating about this…. I got an sms from an official  acquaintance who asked me if I was okay in  and if I had heard any rumour..Not very pleasantly, I replied that I was not in town and I didn’t pick up any rumour hints at midnight.The next morning I’m woken up by another phone call..This time from my aunty in Ranchi..she  asked  me  the same question “If I had heard the news going around?”

Now what rumour/news had been floating around that I was oblivious of?? And this is what I heard “A female employee of my Company  was raped at the very scenic Dimna Dam while she was visiting the place in the company of a male friend” Since there are not many female employees in the manufacturing sector I could understand their concern….

  Like each time I read about such cases..I was irked,aghasted,repelled by this heinous act..I’d been disturbed all day long.After day long of engagements I returned to the Hotel it was 8.30 pm.I had to buy a gift for a dear friend.I googled nearest Titan showroom. I decided to put myself to a small test and set out on foot all alone based on the random google maps . I made a quick circle from ho chi minh sarani that was deserted .The showroom had its shutters half down and was about to close in the  camac street.Struck by hunger I went out to hunt for street food on the notorious  Park street on a  Saturday night and its nearby lanes at nine at night.I wanted to pack food  at a roll corner but I had become aware of a group of guys who were staring  so I ditched the idea.

  I returned back safe! A  short celebration of liberation!

But the morning thought had still been haunting me…Are such perpetrators worse than savages?

I’m sure even animal kingdom has respectable protocols..and so do “uncivilized” tribes in Africa

And worse what aftermath does the female go after she has undergone something as ravaging as a rape.

The entire question of “why me?” or worse

“God! Why did you make me a weaker gender?”

Paradoxically In a country where Durga,Lakshmi and Saraswati are worshipped..I know people will call it a feminist’s question but isn’t this a humanitarian one?

  Why do they do it?What do they get out of it?and you know what “they” does not include a minuscule percentage population?The National Crime Records Bureau state that in the year 2009  a total of 21091  rape cases were reported in police station.Officially every 30 minutes a woman is raped.Adding to that Medical Counselors say that only 1 in 69 cases are reported.So you can well imagine the number of females who are so devastated and don’t want to go through the stigma of being asked “disgraceful questions” by police and medical examinations just to prove what they have gone through.

 Thinking and cringing at it;I read a Nielsen report  revealed that Indian women are the most stressed out in the world: 87% of our women feel stressed out most of the time.. Even in workaholic America, only 53% women feel stressed.There’s not a single day when we girls are not reminded of our helplessness..

       If  I take an auto the guy sitting or uncle sitting next to me will try to nudge me..

If I am travelling in a bus the “bhaiya” needs to be reminded to make some space and not to make contact..

If I’m travelling by train..God! help me if I’m alone be it AC..General class..I’ll have all the eyeballs on me..staring at me as if I were some alien..Here’s a fact most of us wont sleep in train at night lest the man sleeping on the next berth tries to lay his hand on us..Many a times no one will come to rescue even If you’ll try..and Please  don’t ask us to report to the police waala 50% times even he might be eyeing us with uncouth eyes..If you’re walking on streets comments will pass once or twice..Again if the situation is really bad  some one will just come on his bike and make sure he gets the thrill of scaring a girl out of her wits by touching her..and before you will have come out of the shock and have had the sense of noting his number down he’ll be gone in a jiffy.

   Workplace too might not always be a friendly place.In a recent poll it was found that  60%  of working women have faced sexual harassment at some point of time in their working lives. 

 Coming to the point,I cannot take a knapsack on my back and cannot put on my khaki shorts and go about camping in some field or exploring some mountain alone by myself.. Laila(Katrina) seized the day and lived every moment to the fullest beause she was in Spain and not in India and probably was the daughter of a well to do man..I cannot seize the day..I cannot impress Hrithik Roshan by my free spirit..I cannot live the way I want to because there might be some villain lurking  out there..