Gerald D'Cunha

T o me the biggest take away from the movie, ‘Section 375’ is its fundamental message: ‘The Law and the Justice are not the same’… For long, and for some strange reasons, I was waiting for someone to put forward this point strongly. ‘Section 375’ has done it, with hammer and tongs! Another point, though central to the story of the movie, again, for some strange reasons, I was waiting for someone to convey it strongly, was: the sexual relationships – be it within the marriage or outside the marriage – when turn sour can, also, turn unpredictably dangerous, traumatic and ugly… It is, always, as long as it goes… But, the ugly turn, pray, never comes… The Wise have always advised us to keep the hospitals and the courts away… How can we, but? We need doctors and we need lawyers… just as we need teachers, priests, traders and all in life… The hospitals and the courts, however despised they may be, do come calling like uninvited guests… ...

O ne of the things I keep reinforcing in my mind and heart both is: this world has more good than bad. For every poisonous soul, there are nine virtuous out there. Despite our sinful nature, we are more aligned to God than to Satan… We all have the capability of committing big crimes – murder, loot and rape… yes, we all do. But, nine out of ten don’t fall to this level…. We don’t commit such crimes… Our personal values, social values, religious values, universal values… Yes, most of us are conscious of them… we are guided and saved by them… One out of ten – that one is one of us – falls. Fails… kills, roots and rapes. It has nothing to do with our religion. For, no religion encourages it... It’s simply a fall from Grace! Saudi Arabia, perhaps, has the most stringent punishment for committing crimes… I understand, they cut your hand and pluck your eyes if you kill, loot and rape... They hang you publicly. That’s the kind of punishment most of us cry...

Pic.: Sudha Ahuja “DON’T TELL US WHAT TO WEAR, TELL THEM NOT TO STARE” “G irls invite their own trouble.” Yes, this was the topic for debate, today, in our PD session. Surprisingly, the very first girl, a seventeen-year-old, spoke in support of the topic. The rest of the girls were angry… When eighteen-year-old Pranav began to justify his stand in support of the topic, the young-ladies were all up against him… “If boys can wear anything and go out anytime, why can’t girls?” they were asking angrily. “Don’t boys invite their own trouble, when they wear whatever they like and go wherever and whenever they wish?” Eighteen-year-old Aditya spoke against the topic. Instead of trying to impose restrictions on the way girls dressed or on where and when they went, he vehemently argued, that boys should grow up and change the way they view and treat girls. “During the Nirbhaya rape-protests in Delhi, a young girl was carrying this poster – ‘...