This is but the first little letter in a series of open letters that I thought to compose to send to those elite few; those colourful characters who make our day to day life the hell that it is quite often.
Firstly in line:
The Cool Dude, or Mast Banda or whatever else he fancies himself as.
Dear Mr Dude,
Your are one of the most glaringly prominent members of modern society. So (in)famous are you that there is not one day when the newspaper's aren't filled with tales of your latest exploitations... er, I mean exploits. From eve-teasing to molestation and even rape, you do it all; and why shouldn't you indeed? After all, judging by the effort you put into wooing a girl with your cat-calls and comments (which some uncharitable folks call obscene) you do deserve some reward; and if it involves bashing up some lazy sod who doesn't do things your 'manly' way then all the better you'd say. Of course, the public wouldn't always approve of your activities, but fear not; our netas and assorted officials are ever ready to defend your acts. That is what we elect them and contribute to their salaries for anyway.
In fact, if I were a neta I would surely to speak on your behalf to the public (after all, isn't that what neta's do?) and I would plead: Please forgive these oafs (its a term of endearment) their minor indiscretions after all it wasn't really their fault; the girl was actually seducing them and putting lewd ideas into their heads.
She was dressed in a burqa you say? Doesn't change a thing, haven't you heard that famous Govinda song "Ankhiyon Se Goli Mare". They never even so much as glanced at the poor chappie? Well they must have employed mind tricks: you see, the very femininity of their nature corrupted the innocent Dude's mind, its like a force field spread over a vast area around them. Its the reason for all these regrettable but 'understandable' incidents and if not for that he wouldn't have even touched her or even dreamt of beating up her male companions.
You and you buddies yourselves can tell us how you slave away in a gym or a pub or both, for hours on an end every single day in the hopes of polishing your powerful charisma (read: chauvinism) and wooing skills (read: eve-teasing) in the hopes of snaring one (un)fortunate gal in a sort of relationship and how these modern girls have become so callous in their disregard of your feelings (or lack thereof) that they are all but asking for it. You would probably tell us how you were just having a merry time drinking away to glory when that evil seductress came along and 'forced' you to outrage her modesty, she was probably 'asking for it' each and every time you've done your (evil) deeds, and I bet those conservatively dressed demure girls are the worst of the lot! Seducing you so subtly, not even flaunting their bodies like most!
All in all, you probably feel rather justified in your acts. After all it never was your fault, really; plus with the end of the world coming one can't really grudge a guy some fun, eh?
Well it seems I can.
For some reason I feel the need to object to all this. Your justifications, your innocence and the girl's perpetual guilt- they all ring hollow in my ears.
Yes, maybe I'm a bit strange, maybe I'm not a proper Dilli-waala like you manly dudes are, maybe I'm just a wimp but somehow feel that your activities aren't justified in the least and the only reward you deserve is a nice long jail sentence, maybe a healthy dose of thrashing with it too, after all, haven't we all heard the saying: "laaton ke bhoot baaton se nahi maante".
Now now, don't glare at me like that. I'm just voicing my opinion, I do have the right to free speech, as long as it doesn't hurt any political big-shot's or his/her family's sentiments, and I don't think that I've done either, not directly at least. You see; people like you and people who think like you, despite the fact that they may have been a victim themselves have had a lot to say about the issue (like a certain Didi from the land of Rosogullas). You're always up and about reaffirming the guilt of the girl and how really early marriages and banning of chowmein can help improve the law and order situation so I felt that enough was enough, we foolish people should also have our say and thus I dared speak up.
The thing is: I don't really believe that the girl is as guilty as you make her out to be, nor do I believe that chowmein has much to do with it. What then is the cause you ask? Well, you. You and your mentality and your insecurity. You feel insulted that girls may think of themselves as equals, you feel slighted you see a girl actually doing something with her life while you sit rotting your away and you feel outraged that your brawn doesn't get the adulation you feel it deserves. That is what I believe. I believe that you're so petty that rather than to make something out of yourself you begrudge others their lives and rather than learn to respect a girl and treat her right you'd go and force yourself upon some unwilling girl and then, instead of owning up to what you did, like a proper man would, you blame it all on her. All in all you've become a total failure, an empty headed, empty hearted ruthless predator who only seeks momentary relief from his own pain at the cost of deep hurt and pain to others at the cost of ruination of someone's life and dreams.
But then again, you're not really the one to blame. Your failure is but partly your fault for you only failed because we failed you. Your parents or guardians failed to raise you with the right outlook on life and women, your neighbourhood failed to set you right when you started to go wrong, and we, the citizens of the nation, failed you by not teaching you to respect the rules, to fear the law. We failed because we taught you to laugh at the law rather than honour it.
Sincerely Ashamed to be a Delhiite
Akash Kapur
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