Last year, during the mid of October, I was comfortably sitting on the couch with a mug of coffee in my hand, looking outside the window and thinking about all the good things that I was blessed with. Suddenly, I heard a beep on my phone, a text message from an old friend of mine who came to visit his hometown after a while and wanted to catch up. We started chatting for hours and, along with a few others, decided to go for a road trip to a famous place, the very next weekend. So, on the day, we all gathered up and had a warm hug after so long and was all set to start the trip. On the journey, we enjoyed old memories, songs, and everything. After a couple of hours of drive, we took a halt to grab tea and snacks. The Dhaba was small, could barely accommodate us serving minimal stuff. A man might be aged around 40, and a lady was the only one working in the shady Dhaba. We ordered 4 cups of tea and were waiting for our order. After some time, the lady was approaching us to serve the order. She greeted us in the local language with a charming smile and kept the cups on our table.
While she was turning and ready to leave, I observed a heavy red mark on her face, it did not take me so long to figure out that it was a slap mark. On looking more closely, I saw some rashes on her stomach and nearby area. I asked her about the marks; she was reluctant to answer and kept looking at the man. It didn’t take me a while to understand what the lady has been going through. My friends and I all were astonished to believe that DOMESTIC VIOLENCE is still prevalent in the 21st century, and women have to go through such hardships without uttering a word. The man, on the other hand, is so insensible to carry out such a measure to make women work according to their will. We left the place feeling helpless as the women were unwilling to take any action against what she was going through. Continuing our trip, everyone was numb blank. I kept asking myself why such incidents are happening in our country?
This is the not only incident of Women’s harassment in India. The total no. of cases of Crime against women was around 3,27,000 and out of which the cases of domestic violence alone were 1,13,000. Apart from this, the cases of Rapes, dowry deaths, sexual harassments are also significant, which is very shameful for a developing country like India, where we keep on talking about Women Empowerment. The dignity of women is compromised at each stage, and yet we can’t do anything as we are handcuffed to take appropriate measures. Is it the lack of education and awareness among young generations which is giving rise to such a situation? Or is it the inherent patriarchic behavior in males to take women for granted? Whatever the reason be, the problem can only be overcome only if we start taking pride in Women’s safety and dignity. The mindset of individuals, especially that of the young generation, matters the most, and if we can nurture our young generation with a positive and responsible attitude towards women, then it will not take more than a decade or two to eradicate the Crime against women from the country. To bring that change in society, you, me, and everyone else have to pay a contribution. The change will not come overnight, but with continuous efforts and over time, we can make our country prosper, and a place women feel safe living in. As Swami Vivekananda rightly said, “The best thermometer
