Where the mind is without fear

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

These immortal words of Rabindranath Tagore haven't ever been more relevant than now. India, as we speak in plunged into a state of sorrow and anger after finding out about the innocent 5 year old and what happened to her. I don't want to repeat the torture that she went through here but one thing that is seldom mentioned is the amount of types these kind of events keep on happening. I'm tired of calling each of them a wake up call. How many types will we need to be woken up. There is a breaking point to everything. But these events keep on repeating and out toothless laws do nothing to set a deterrent.

Rather than regular debates which we see on TV we need to move on. Laws as we have seen do not act as a sufficient preventive measure for these criminals. And although hanging a child rapist is a amendment that needs to be incorporated into the law, significant other measures need to be taken. One major thing that is not being addressed is the psyche of the people of commit these acts need to be understood. Seeing these stupid debates which pin the blame of porn and bollywood movies is cringing. 

Which brings me to the poem, i started with it as a grim reminder that the above mentioned India is what our forefathers and revolutionaries envisioned. I dont want any person, more so the mothers, sisters and daughters to step out with fear in any city and fear for their lives. Rather these shallow domestic barriers need to be broken and a new discourse has to be thought of.

( P.S. will be expanding this piece into a column with a more focused view)