In Sanskrit there is a saying
“Athithi devo bhava”
that roughly translates to
“Our guest is God”
and shall be treated accordingly.
Is this how guests are treated in Mumbai?
img: via Hindustan Times
tip: Runa via Über Stories
By now you’ve probably heard of the two California based women who were partying on New Year’s Eve and ended up being molested by a bunch of hooligans on the streets of Mumbai. [Desipundit link]
Understandably, this has generated a heated discussion on the desi blogosphere resulting in a variety of opinions. There is a lot of blame to go around here but none of this would’ve happened without the mob culture that seems to have seeped into Indian society over the ages.
Mobs, undesirable as they are, can be classified in two kinds – ideological and barbaric. Our ancestors attained Independence partially by taking to the streets as mobs, peaceful but mobs nonetheless. These mobs could be classified as ideological mobs. They were fighting for a purpose – freedom from “phoren” rule. After Independence, all we inherited was the mobs, no ideology. With no “phoren” forces left to fight, we turned on each other and turned into barbaric mobs – mobs fighting each other in the name of religion, caste, culture, politics, government handouts, you-name-it-we-will-fight-mobs.
The mobs that attacked these women come from an even lower gutter than the barbaric mobs, a bunch of cowardly drunks. There are no ideologies for these morons, except to move around in bunches harassing innocent people. The molestation of innocent bystanders simply represents an outlet for long pent-up sexual frustrations and a desire to express power over women, whom under normal circumstances these losers would even be afraid to approach on an individual basis. The combination of alcohol and strength in numbers, i.e. being part of a mob, simply empowers them.
Sure we can blame alcohol which is not exactly known for its intellect-enhancing capabilities. But all alcohol does is, it merely frees you from your inhibitions and makes you act on your feelings – already existing feelings that you would suppress in a social arena under normal circumstances. What are the chances that a group of men suddenly see two women and a light bulb goes off in their head saying “go molest them”? These thoughts didn’t come into their head randomly or because they are drunk. These men fantasize and, probably, even discuss it often.
There is a proverb in Bambaiya Hindi – “mauka dekhke chauka maar”, which in cricket parlance means “When given the opportunity you should score”. That’s exactly what these guys did – late at night, safety in numbers, lax enforcement, defenseless women – given the opportunity, their innermost animal showed up.
Then there is the problem of (lack of) law enforcement in the city. The cops, also affectionately referred to as “mamus” or “pandus”, are too busy defending us from malicious Internet comments to attend to minor disturbance like a couple of women being molested by a mob of 50+ men. The police commissioner of Mumbai described the incident as a “minor issue”. Comments on Orkut about Bal Thackeray, now those are major issues.
And, how about them bystanders? This is a common phenomenon in Mumbai – folks simply stop and gawk as if something were happening in a movie. Someone got run over by a car/train – stand and stare, a drunk is beating his wife and children – stand and stare, someone is in trouble – stand and stare. News flash, this is real life. It’s not ok to stand and watch someone else’ mother, sister or wife being molested. The same goes for the guys who were snapping “fotus” as these goons had their way with the ladies. WTF were these folks trying to achieve? Win Pulitzer prizes? The concept of being a good samaritan is dead.
Looks like you are one of our regular visitors. Here is our RSS feed, just another way to keep up with the new posts.
Loading ...