This time, a little girl.
I have only now been able to force myself to write about my feelings - just cannot get the image out of my mind, or subdue the torrent of thoughts and questions...
A couple of days back, there was a newspaper report on a little 5-year old girl child who was strangled by two boys - a 12 year old and a 10 year old. Why? Because she fought back when they tried to molest her...Molest - what a loaded word for 2 small boys, boys who have probably not even entered puberty. These were privileged kids. One would imagine that at that age, their minds would be full of adventure stories, thrillers, science fiction and what have you. Crosswords, Starmark, Oxford, to name some of the easily accessible book stores have a huge selection of children's books. These bookstores also plan a variety of activities for kids, book reading and story telling included. In fact, Calcutta is one place where there is no dearth of book shops. Check out College Street. Instead, their little minds have probably been overdosed with sensational pictures that are a regular feature of the daily newspapers, media, and some of Bollywood's mass offerings. These are kids, so where does the blame for the corruption of their minds lie? I do believe that since the baby draws its first breath of life in its parents home, the parents are squarely responsible for the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well-being of their children. Then comes school and society at large. I know of parents who grab the paper just as it comes in and remove the pages that have indecent pictures in them, or tune off certain TV channels (very, very unfortunately sensationalism is what keeps the subscription lists and TRP ratings high). Why? Because - how can I face my little daughter if she sees these pictures (since most of the pictures portray women in the very light that they should not be portrayed in. I wonder, how much more women have to work, how much more they should do, to show that they are not sex objects; that they are human beings with thoughts and feelings...but then that is another story...). For that matter, how would parents face their sons, in case they asked them difficult-to-answer questions? I believe that all these sensitive issues are best dealt with at home in a loving and enabling atmosphere. Of course people can turn around and say - 'suppressing' these issues does not send them away - true - very, very true - but then, teach children how to look at these issues, create the contexts for them, teach them the right way of thinking when confronted with these issues. After all how much can that little brain think on its own - he has no experience with the world, nor does he have the required vocabulary to think, so how much can he understand, or decipher. These 2 boys are a case in point - it could be that they have seen movies where men have treated women badly, or molested them; or they have seen the older men in the family looking surreptitiously at unacceptable pictures; or they have been exposed to porn, and they have not known how to handle it in their minds. What they did, then, is a corollary.
I don't even want to think about what that little girl would have gone through in her little heart and mind. Plucky little girl did put up a good fight...poor, poor little girl. She is every woman's little girl. How will her parents ever be able bear this loss - made unbearable by the knowledge that she suffered so much. We really have to make our girl children strong...stronger...'tis a man's world, and 'tis a cruel world...
Journalists have to be cognizant of the impact of unethical, irresponsible and sensational journalism and on young, immature and unformed minds. The media including the movie makers too need to understand and accept the enormous responsibility they have - that of influencing young minds. We have to remember that creating a world for children to live in safely is our collective responsibility.
Once again I come back to the parents - let us make our children strong - let us educate them in all these real-life matters - let us teach them to think, act and take responsibility for themselves. Let us not pass on this sacred charge of bringing up our children on other people, even if they be in the extended family. Loving our children involves equipping them to understand and deal with this world. It's not easy for the girl child, it's not easy for the boy child either...