To my mind the girl child is the most precious gift of all. A girl child has to be treasured and protected from all harm and danger. The world, no matter that many would say otherwise, is still a man's world, and still a cruel world to the girl child. A girl, a woman is not safe anywhere in the world, and, I feel especially so in our country. What happened a couple of days ago in Mangalore is a testimony to the fact that, forget treasuring our girls, we cannot even treat them with the respect that is due to a human being. It is absolutely terrible what happened and right thinking people especially women are outraged. I join my voice to the voice of all those who are condemning this dastardly act. To top it all, one of the goons said that they objected to the dress the girls were wearing. Their clothing did not conform to Indian culture he claimed. So what is the dress that women of Indian culture should wear? what is worn in the Hindi films? the revealing clothes that our heroines wear, is what our girls should wear? should they dress like the women of yore as depicted in the sculptures in Khajuraho? what about the goons themselves? they were in trousers and shirts. Is that clothing according to Indian culture? such a confused and wretched lot, I cannot condemn them enough. I do hope the police catches the lot of them and I hope they are given the most serious punishment possible. Renuka Choudhry was right when she said that this was akin to talibanisation. These girls work hard, and earn enough to allow them to have fun. Anyone who has seen young working girls in a pub will understand when I say that I feel such a sense of pride to see that these girls can conduct themselves so well and enjoy themselves - and on the salary that they work so hard for. The feeling of oneness that they share with each other, the collective strength with which they uphold each other. All of them in the pub don't drink. They often nurse a mocktail, may try a wine (and why not), may even try something harder (what's wrong). 9 times out of 10 they know their limits and know what they like. You see them sitting and talking to each other, reading, or just singing along. You might spot them dancing either with each other or even alone, quite unselfconsciously. Who knows what the future holds for our girls. The most liberal and understanding of parents often go wrong in the choice of who they get their girls married to. And there is neither forgiveness nor respite for them in a bad marriage. Ultimately she has to bow to the man's wishes, worse, she may have to bow to the family's wishes. I so believe that the girl child should be empowered to live the difficult and sometimes lonely life that is her lot ( I'm not talking about the very small number of girls/women that can live life on their terms). Education alone won't help. She must be made strong mentally, emotionally and psychologically so that she can live with her head high, in dignity and be able to fight to live on her own terms. She must be treasured, and protected, for she and she alone is our wealth. Women in the olden days had a position of their own. They could hold their own in society. We have the matriarchal society in Kerala and the North-East. So, it is not something out of the ordinary that women should have an honourable place in society. It is neither a new nor a revolutionary concept. Till Manu came along and gave his Manu-shastra that caused the woman to lose her position of respect and dignity. But, do we have to follow the bad things? Like the good Indians we are,we excel at hypocrisy. And so when it suits us, we make a woman the President of our country, and when it suits us we burn her because she has had the courage to do something and be someone that the man perceives as a threat to him.