Building a Fearless India

Tweet

Fearless India. It almost sounds like a joke, I know. But I have been contemplating on this for the past 2 weeks. That I can conduct deep contemplation in nauseating hospital hallways, came as a surprise to me. What I observed in these last 2 weeks is the cold, blatant apathy among Indians. Ironical that most of that experience is in a hospital - where you would expect sensitiveness more than anything else. 

So after thinking quite a bit I rounded off to three things to start with if you and I were to build a fearless India. This needs minuscule changes - just needs you to speak up and take small, individual actions. Because small actions compounded by the number of people who take them up, is viral. So are you ready to build a fearless India? I certainly am. And I am certainly not waiting for anyone. And please don't be cynical (even before hearing me out)

Teach "core values" at school

I think kids are taught enough garbage in school. Some textbook lessons remain same from my yesteryears (2 decades back). This is ridiculous - lessons on insignificant (so-called) leaders of India who are better known for their scandals than any other achievements, rote learning of historical events in India without emphasizing the essence behind them..

The more educated we are, the more illogical we get. If we are producing high quality graduates who later on their life show no empathy to events happening around them, then we are doing a really bad job of teaching them. You see highly qualified Indians demanding dowry, employing child labor and throwing their elders in old aged homes. What is going wrong with the Indian education system? Are we teaching the right stuff at school?

The answer is (of course)  NO

Kids need to be taught about core values - About humanity. About empathy. About treating people with all fairness, righteousness, integrity, sensitiveness, duty and respect. Indians grow up indifferent and appallingly ignorant about things around them. Because parents, teachers, elders rarely teach them the core values and their importance in everyday life. In fact this should be made a mandatory subject. 

No, not like one of those biblical stories included as textbook chapters, without driving home the moral lesson of the story. It has to be repetitive, incessant and retold again and again till it is hardwired in children - without core values we are nothing. You could be an engineer, doctor, astronaut or physicist but without core values you missed the heart of being a human. 

A lot of our society's chronic problems can be avoided if Indians could decide for themselves what is right and what is wrong and take a stand. Unfortunately this generation has missed learning about a good value system and understanding that it is the foundation of mankind.

So how can we correct it? Unfortunately this will take a long time to show results. To start with, each of us have to take onus of imbibing this in kids. Why kids you ask? Because they will be part of the next generation that will drive this country. As parents, if you go to Parent Teacher Meetups, ask the school authorities what they are doing to drive home the core values. Pressurize them to include this as part of the curriculum. If you are an authority figure in your community, pressure your community to hold such classes or workshops for kids.

Values have to be driven into kids, when they are kids. And there is no right time like NOW.

Say NO to child labor and child abuse

If you have any heart, you will say NO to any incident of child abuse or labor. The most valuable thing you can give a kid is his/her childhood. No one has a right to seize this from them. If you employ a child at home for running errands and do housework, shame on you. If you see a child employed to do the same elsewhere, then shame on you too. You are no less of a perpetrator, if you witness child labor and abuse and stay silent. If it means that you have to stand up against your own parents, you should do it. 

Without demand there is no supply. If we all take a stand about not employing children to work, their parents will be forced to send them to schools (at least to get a free meal at those government run schools). 

Even if this means you tried to tell No, no matter what the outcome, it still holds good. Be relentless. If you have to tell this a 100 times so be it. There is nothing you are going to lose. You have to speak up. This is your chance to get up and speak and save a child. It is no less of a generous gesture to that child. 

It is shameful to see educated people employing kids to work to save a few bucks. How could you? How could you do this to a kid and sleep at nights? How can you ruin a kid's life and be reticent about it? I dare you to do this to your own kids. Every child has the right to a childhood and an education. If you are a perpetrator please stop right now and give them the chance to live life.

Women - learn to stand up for yourselves

To all the Indian women - Quit whining. Quit whining to your fathers, husbands, brothers everywhere. If you cannot stand up for yourself, how do you expect someone else to stand up for you? In fact this applies irrespective of you being a woman or a man.

How many times have you been physically abused by a man in public but stayed silent? Why? Because your parents or your family advised you to stay silent and not 'get into trouble'? Fuck that. You just lost your dignity and self-respect because someone thought he could bang you in public and get away with it.

And you had to just suck it up to them. Blame no one but yourself for this. No excuse taken.

Ever wondered why North Indian women are tougher (in demeanor) than South Indian women in general? When you are in certain surroundings, you need to fight for yourself. Because let me tell you something, it doesn't need brawn (at least not all the time) to say NO to your offender. It needs your heart's courage to say no and stand up for yourself.

Some things you can do - get physically fit. It counts. It raises your confidence. It also keeps you healthy of course. So what have you got to lose? Doesn't mean you have to go spend all your income on a health club. It means you have to eat right, do some form of physical exercise and be mentally strong. Because India has a lot of nasty men who will treat you like you are nothing. And you will face them everywhere - not just on the streets but also in corporate India. You need to be ready. Always. 

Lots of studies show that offenders are surprised when a woman fights tooth and nail - without any signs of giving up. Take self-defense classes if you can. Ask for them at your workplace, schools etc. If you don't have one, take a vacation to a place where they offer. This is as important as driving skills or swimming skills. This is a life skill. Because only you can stand up for you.