Jyotiranjan Nayak,
Class-VIII-A,
Study Hall
My view point on the brutal Delhi gang rape case that took place on 16th December, 2012 is that, we should be really ashamed of the fact that we call ourselves the largest democracy in the whole world where the women aren’t even safe to move around in their own country. This incident really shook me from inside and a question was raised in my mind that, Are women safe in India? Obviously not, but why? Women are now becoming the target of men who do not hesitate to make them feel vulnerable, and, worse, attack their dignity.

A recent study states that India is the worst country for women among the G20 nations. The report suggests that Indian women are not free from violence. The National Crime Reports Bureau 2011 shows that Bangalore comes second in the country for crimes committed against women. According to the report, Bangalore has 1,890 cases, which accounts for 5.6%, after New Delhi (13.3%). Why do Indian men use sexual violence to rob a woman’s security? A recent survey revealed that Indian women are the most stressed out in the world: 87% of our women feel stressed out most of the time. This statistic alone has caused me to stress out. Even in workaholic America, only 53% women feel stressed. Sexual Harassment in other cities

Delhi 4,489 cases (13.3%)
Hyderabad 1,860 cases (5.5%)
Vijayawada 1,797 cases (5.3%)
Sex crime against women in Bangalore
Cruelty by Husband: 398 to 458
Molestation: 308 to 250
Rape: 65 to 97
Dowry deaths: 52 to 53
Sexual harassment: 40 to 50

There are many India’s at present. It’s difficult for a socio-economically and sexually repressed India to live with the modern, independent India. Backward ideas about gender and sexuality overpower the India in which women want to live on their own. Indian society has always prided itself on a strong masculine figure. News Agencies say that our Indian Army is the second largest army in the whole world. An army is present to protect the nation, but what’s the worth of having such a huge force at our borders when women aren’t safe in their houses itself. We are guided by weak laws, slow judiciary system and a very ignorant policing system where there is no justice and no one even bothers. And neither women are given enough support in their family to come out and talk about it. So, women face the worst of both worlds.

Aren’t we all sons, brother, fathers, all from one origin,’ a mother ‘ isn’t it. So shouldn’t we protect them and also should look forward to support our sisters, daughters, mothers, and friends and make them feel secure that they are living in a safe India where no one would harm them.

Dharm Pravartak
Student, Study Hall School

A Question Unanswred

I saw the light through the windows
I saw things change outside it
But Why Was I Not A Part of It?

I saw my brothers go to school
I saw them grow in all awe
But Why Was I Not A Part of It?

I saw men walking on the streets
I saw them go places beyond the horizon
But Why Was I Not A Part of It?

Men enjoyed their lives
Men had all the fun of their lives
But Why Was I Not A Part of It?

I saw the world change around me
I saw men change it too
But Why Was I Not A Part of It?

Am i dumb or am i weak
Am i foolish or Am i a freak
Why wasn’t I am part of The Decisions of My Life
Why was I just used and abused
Why, Tell Me Why?

Why Was I Not A Part of It?

Sachin Nitish
X-C, Study Hall School

Being a woman is a very challenging course and one has to have the guts to go through it but, why is it to be the Indian Woman who is suffering the most?

Let us start by asking a question to ourselves.

Are you ready to accept the truth and stand up against the mistakes? 

Of course not. Why you ask?

You’ll talk about gender discrimination today and start the life with the same mindset of being superior. The patriarchal society of India has brought up everyone that way. Women of India live a life on a string, it’s only a matter of time before they fall off or get pushed. It’s only a matter of time to realize these mistakes. The way you treat your sisters and mothers is how you should exactly treat a walking street passer. Passing snide comments and looks is not an example you set yourself. You may think your physically more stronger and have a superiority thinking going on but remember, You are pushing the women too far It doesn’t take too long before they push back.

How can government help the women?

Amending new laws and giving way too long speeches are not helping in any ways. Enforce the existing laws properly and pay the women some respect. Though the country is ran by many women, they are not really into helping the other women. Listen to the voices of public and try to understand them, Coming to a campaign just for sake of political attention won’t get you anywhere.

How can the citizens help the women?

The way society treats them is to be blamed. A good society would treat the men and women equally by means of everything. Get the women educated and make them understand the laws. The day a society knows a person is molested it should do all it can to make them feel home and not neglect them to a separate world. You see a women in trouble, stand up against them.

How can we change the current situation?

Let the women feel wanted and safe. Let the future generations be made equal and not depend on a patriarchal system. Don’t ever feel that having a women child is a burden.

The campaign’s purpose will thrive long enough to make the women feel wanted, safe, equal.

The day when a women feels safe to walk the streets alone and feels equally treated is the day when we get our true freedom.

Rohina Dass
XI D

Unacknowledged

Unwanted
When X and X chose one another,
It made her a girl.
Blamed for this catastrophe was the mother,
And so the torment began to unfurl.

Unsafe
Her first trial was survival,
In the womb itself, if she could remain concealed
Right up till her arrival
And then, her true worth was revealed.

Unloved
Arguments were fought so that she wouldn’t be thrown.
An object she was to be, a lifeless barely breathing commodity
Raised in the shadows, trying to atone
For sins unknown to her, a tear in plea

Unequal
Her brother waved at her as he left for school
She wiped her small forehead while doing the dishes
Tender fingers, hands equally able to hold a pencil, her education is overruled
Home is where her mind shall be even if it is against her wishes.

Unacceptable
We are women and men of a modern age
The women’s rights movement began centuries ago,
Wars started and they ended. How many more do we wage?
Till we go crazy and so does the ratio?

We ought to understand, we ought to feel
Today it was her; tomorrow it’ll be me?
We have been scarred enough, lets try and heal
I demand it despite everything and so would she.

Shatakshi swaroop

Class XII D, Study Hall

so calm so peace,
in the womb as i sleep.
90 days of my growth,
still to grow,still to grow.
i feel the love i feel it in
but everything soon,came to still.
the door of my room, was opened soon
and was brought to the world
that was my own too
But things did’nt went,
the way the should have been
as i was soon packed in a polythene
saying my birth was a sin
they threw me out in a dustbin
i felt the sharp teeth on my skin
and was torn into pieces bit by bit…
eaten away by carnivores
my existence in the world
was no more…
with pain and questions embeded in heart
my soul and  body go apart
i wander still around to be heard
“was my being a girl a burden on earth ?”

Kavita Upadhyay
Study Hall School

The concern in the eyes of my parents in the 70s when Sanjay and Geeta Chopra case shook the nation when two young school going siblings were attacked by Ranga Billa, raped and killed, we feel the same magnitude of concern for our daughters. Times have not changes the issue of sexual crime against women. The 16th December 2012, Nirbhaya case would not have been there if the governance of the country had shown consideration earlier. Rightly, Justice Verma reiterates that it is the failure of governance which is the root cause of crime against women. Millions in one voice cried for justice against the ever-increasing rape cases in India.

The voice finally shook few from their slumber and the outcome is in the form of Justice Verma Committee report. The report, though rules out death penalty but says life imprisonment must always mean imprisonment for the entire natural life of the convict. It recommends punishment for trafficking and instructs stalking should be viewed as a serious offence. The police has been asked to be more gender sensitive and to register cases of sexual assault without harassing the victim. Underlying the recommendation made by the Verma committee is a new charter of the rights for sexual offence victims. The degree to which India succeeds in becoming a liberal country and combat patriarchy and violence against females will be decided by a single factor and that is to what extent these legal rights are actually conferred on the women of India.

The report comes at a time when the situation has become gruesome, brutal and difficult to control. NCRB data suggests rape crime has gone up by 829% since 2001. What are we waiting for? 50% of the countries population is unsafe and on the verge of living under constant threat of being sexually harassed at any point of time and at any place. A constant upsurge in sexual violence cases against women have been recorded for years but ignored because of lack of political will and frequent involvement of authorities in such crimes.

The youth of the country took to the streets in a peaceful way asking for a good governance, law and order in the country to make life safe for females. Thanks to Justice Verma and his team to accept that, an attitude change is expected in the older generation and so for the governance to bring safety in the lives of girls. Of course, this is a mammoth task when the target groups involve insensitive brutal people like Ram Singh who perceive women as an object and nothing else. Strict implementation of laws is obviously a much needed tool to bring this change in the attitude. Inclusion of gender sensitivity program in school curriculum is urgently required at all levels of education.

As ordinary citizens, our role increases manifold to help each other understand the importance and advantage of an egalitarian society where both boys and girls survive happily. Empowering of girls does not mean disempowering boys. It is simple respect and giving a chance to live freely to the girls.