Maybe I'm a flightless bird

I have a dream.

I want to be a dancer.
More than anything on earth, I want to be a dancer.

Why?
There are so many reasons. But the one I think is most plausible, is that dancing makes you feel like you're flying. It makes me feel like I can fly.

Then there are people who cripple my wings.
Like the story of the butterfly in metamorphosis. When it tries to break free the child helps it out of its cocoon and the butterfly has to suffer with crippled wings.
That's how I feel when people who think they're helping me see reality, tell me to focus on something I can actually achieve.
Maybe it's in best intention but even with these broken wings, I need to believe that one day I'll be able to soar. I need to have the satisfaction of showing everyone who never believed in me how high I'll fly.
I know I may be naïve and I know that in the end I might not be good enough. But I don't need my insecurities being voiced by people who I wish could support me and believe in me.

For 4 years, I gave it my all. I went through heart break after heart break, each time I wasn't promoted or given a crappy position where nobody would be able to see me dance. Heart break never becomes easier. And I don't want to have all of it, the pain and the tears, been for nothing.

People who may not know me but are perceptive and people who know me inside out, still do not know who I really am.
The day you see me surrender myself completely to music and dance my heart out is the day you know who I really am.

At the end of it, I want to believe I can fly by myself but I don't know if I can unless I know that there is at least one person who has faith in me. That there is at least 1 person who thinks I have what it takes to be a dancer, that there is a possibility that I can be a dancer.
But till I know, I guess I'll have to take the chance and fly solo. 

Outrage and peace

We’ve all heard the story.
She was a 23 year old girl who was coming back with her friend after watching Life of Pi. They got onto the bus where 6 men….
We all know how the rest of it goes.
The entire nation is appalled.
But my question is, why now?
Almost every single day, there is some rape case or the other. So why has the country precipitously decided to wake up now?
Yes, I understand the brutality of what happened to her. But rape is rape. And it is horrendous no matter how it unfolds.
It’s high time we did something about it. I do have to agree, it’s better late than never.

It’s amazing to see what a brouhaha this incident has caused and how Indian youth is reacting to it. Large hordes of Indian youth have been protesting against this obscenity at the president’s residence, the parliament and India gate. However, our so called ‘democratic’ government has only responded by having the Delhi police lead lathi charges, aim water cannons and throw tear bombs at the protesting masses.

However, no matter how valiant and noble the Indian youth have been and despite their honourable actions, we need to look at the other side of the coin.
Would this have happened if from the very beginning we taught our men not to rape? That rape is wrong?
We cannot sit and blame the government alone. At some level, we need to blame ourselves.
It does not start with changing your profile pictures or writing Facebook statuses about it or even protesting about it. It starts with introspection.
Recognize the problem and start instigating the solutions.
We can start by teaching our children, our siblings, our friends to have morally right values and to stand by them no matter what the situation is.
By creating awareness in schools and colleges, starting at the grass root level and then spreading it over the length and breadth of the country.
Gandhi said, ‘Be the change you want to see in the world’.
So if we want a clean, rape-free India, the change should start within ourselves.

Whenever I go to the nearby “hangout” area where kids of my age tend to meet up, wearing shorts , I get leering glances from all the rickshaw walas or drivers waiting outside. Well, all girls to be specific. They don’t even try to hide the fact that they are being lecherous. Often in shopping places like Janpath and Sarojni Nagar, men shamelessly grope women or eve tease them.
23% of total rapes in India occur in Delhi and there was a total of 568 rape cases in Delhi in 2011. It would have gone up significantly in the past year (obviously).

The fact of the matter is, even if police are around these areas, they are the least concerned. So I wonder, if the police don’t really care about the safety of the citizens, what’s the point of even having them around?
Police officers have said things like- “It is a social issue and it is impossible to come out with an initiative or strategy to curb such offences. Many cases registered are technical (with victim’s consent).” And even the President’s son has made casual remarks such as – “The anti-rape demonstration is a "pink revolution" by women wearing heavy make-up who think it is fashionable to protest.”

Our constitution says
“By the people, for the people, of the people”
Is it really? Let me tell you, if this is how much our ruling party or even the opposition cares, then they should know there is no way in hell that anybody is voting for the Congress or BJP in the 2014 elections! We may have the right to elect who to rule us, but it’s only as good as token power if our representatives care more about their money and power than they do about the citizens’ welfare.
What would the very same people say if this happened to THEIR daughters, THEIR wives, THEIR mothers? Would it still be “They were inappropriately dressed”, “ They were out at an inappropriate time”, “They were out with inappropriate company.” ???
No, it sure as hell wouldn’t. They would have moved heaven and hell to get down to the bottom of it if it happened to one of their loved ones. Come hell or high water, they would’ve ENSURED “JUSTICE” for THIER loved ones. But as long as it doesn’t concern them, they don’t have reason enough to care. So much for a welfare state, huh?
Our government unquestionably needs a wakeup call and leaders like Ms. Gandhi, Ms. Dixit and other women MP’s should have been at the forefront of this agitation.

So maybe the world didn’t end this year, but humanity sure did. We may all be living, but many are morally dead. So maybe it would have been better if the world did end.
Unless we follow in Gandhi’s footsteps and be the change in the world.