INDIA'S DAUGHTER...a sad case of lost opportunities!!!

"Three things that never come back:

the spent arrow; the spoken word; the lost opportunity"

-William George Plunkett 

At the very outset let me make it clear that I have not watched the controversial documentary by Ms.Leslee Udwin. However, I also wish to highlight that I do not give a damn to those who keep saying that only those who have watched the video can understand the point of view being put across through the film. I feel I do not need to watch a video to understand how screwed up we are as a society. The nation wants to know, not what Mr.Arnab Goswami wants to preach, but where is the link to the banned video. Only if the nation desired to know how the daughters can be protected or more importantly, how sons can be brought up with right moral values.

With the likes of Meryl Streep apparently agreeing to attend the US premiere of the documentary, it would not be a surprise if the filmmaker walks away with an Oscar next year. One country's shame, another country's fame. And unfortunately if that happens, Indian Government should also get the Academy Award for the Best Supporting Role. By choosing to ban the movie, it has only managed to fire the engines of curiosity all across the world. Anti-piracy law has not been able to put a stop to the illegal download of movies(ask Mr.Akhilesh Yadav..hehe) and so there is no way that Indian Government could have controlled unauthorised online consumption of this product. India is not North Korea or China unless of course there is a definite policy shift towards that kind of CLAMP DOWN CULTURE. Myopic vision coupled with knee-jerk reaction on the part of the Government has ensured that India becomes the laughing stock of this world. It was anyways bad when the Indian newspapers headlined India as a "Nation of Rapists" and now we are a "Nation of Idiots" as well.

The ban by the Government itself is silly and the logic given by the spokespersons really baffle me. According to them, the words of the criminal are more infectious than the Swine Flu and can cause an epidemic. They gave zero stars to the film because they didn't like such content. How can a filthy Rapist be shown as being remorseless?? A nice question indeed. A remorseful Rapist is a Saint and then the movie is ok for nationwide release. We have grown up on diet of Hindi films which by default had the element RAPE in the chemical composition of a VILLAIN. Of course, the HERO got to kill the Villain at the end to get rid of the evil. That was okay as the RIGHT finally prevailed over the WRONG so what if every Indian(including kids) were exposed to things like RAPE, MURDER, & ROBBERY. Considering there was only one channel those days, I think many of us turned out to be quite alright. So, listening to the Criminal doesn't influence one to follow in the same footsteps for he/she is not Osho. Nor does Crime work on the model of Network Marketing. If your value system is good,virtues in place and brain intact then even Satan cannot lead you astray.

Without trivialising the issue, I would like to draw a parallel here with the use of anti-smoking disclaimers in movies that had been ordered by the Government. They wanted to ban smoking on screen but finally diluted the stance to allow the release with such disclaimers. Those messages make people cringe in their seats and therefore leave an impact on the minds. Would the Government have given a Thumbs Up had the documentary carried additional footage of strong messages of public outrage against such heinous crimes, criminals and mindsets including that of the defence lawyers. How about a few minutes of Mann Ki Baat on Gender Equality by the Prime Minister adressing the society through that film?? How about the voice of the mothers?? How about a pledge by the Police authorities and Aam Aadmi to be the 24X7 custodians of India's daughters?? The idea should have been to get the message across through this documentary that going forward this nation would be more responsible towards its daughters and NO ONE SHOULD DARE TO HARM THEM. This is where the Government lost an opportunity to mobilise public opinion and set the ball rolling towards transformation of the civic society. This is where "Minimum Government and Maximum Governence" was the perfect panacea to the ills of the society. Showing direction to the society so that children are brought up with right values is the job of the Government and so far the Report Card (for sixty seven long years) is a cause of serious concern.

What irks me is that why couldn't any Indian filmmaker or Indian news channel come up with this documentary. Well, I am not endorsing the creative brilliance here but as an Indian, I am saddened to see a foreigner coming to India and mustering the courage to do what her Indian counterparts perceived as unthinkable. Now a few journalists are damning the work of the filmmaker almost as if she is more evil than the Rapist himself. Is it a case of sour grapes?? The Nation wants to know. I really loved the social experiment that NDTV had carried out through a wonderful series by the name "WHAT'S YOUR CHOICE?". And they did air a special show on the documentary which kicked up a storm indeed. The media got caught up with the content of the film while ignoring the two real questions that have to be answered by the nation-What could we do to change the mindset of people like Mukesh Singh?? If learned lawyers talk like the uncivilized then what way our Education System needs to be reformed?? Indian News Media lost an opportunity to do mature journalism.

The filmmaker lost an opportunity as well and cannot escape as a victim of the political censorship. The case is sub-judice and so local sentiments had to be respected as a responsible filmmaker. Right to Expression should not be taken for a license to fly into a country and recklessly turn a sad event into a story to win applauses. In the west, law is so intrusive that a mother cannot even slap a child to discipline him or her. Ms.Leslee Udwin, thank your lucky stars that you are in a wonderful country like India where you are sitting pretty while the entire nation is quibbling over the mess that is your creation. I said we are a nation of Idiots and that includes a moron like me who is typing away at this hour as if you are waiting for this piece of brilliant writing....hmmm. What I find wrong with your action is that you were indifferent to the plight of the girl and the sentiments in this country while filming. You could have easily approached the Government and Civil Society to make this a piece of social project much beyond the mere statement of facts. What Mukesh Singh thinks is not important to us for every criminal finds some reason to justify the crime. What he thinks would have come out in the trial as well and but you have given him a stage to shamelessly showcase his dangerous thoughts. India is none of your business and that you have proved it by being so cold and reckless in your approach. As for the legal wrangle that you find yourself in along with BBC, that could have been easily avoided had you taken the stakeholders on board.

To sum up, as much as we have reacted to INDIA'S DAUGHTER, the movie; I hope we start caring for INDIA'S DAUGHTER, the girl child and all the women. We owe it to Nirbhaya. On that note, Happy Women's Day(belated I guess) to all the SANIAs and SAINAs. 

THANK YOU FOR NOT KILLING US.............!!!

We all know about MIDAS TOUCH. Now, India is witnessing something that can be termed as MODI'S TOUCH. He is a very good orator if you discount the occasional factual errors in his speeches. This man's verbal exploits(ofcourse complemented by Manmohan Singh's Samadhi mode) captured the imagination of our countrymen and catapulted him to the much coveted address in the Raisina Hill. Off late though, Modi's touch has rubbed off on many of his colleagues but not everybody has the right character or conviction to speak what is good. As a result, lot many people associated with the ruling party are doling out utter nonsense for sound byte.

DEAR MILITANTS, THANK YOU FOR NOT KILLING THE FOOLS WHILE THEY WERE VOTING FOR CHANGE.

That is the message given out by the man who came in contact with Mr.Modi most recently; today to be specific. WOW...such an inclusive mindset of the new Government to begin the MUFTIDOM. Of course, he was misquoted like all the silly politicians usually are....hehe. They can't resist the temptation and speak their mind with such nonchalance that it stumps a common man like me. Mr.Modi, your name is getting dragged here because you are a beacon of hope for us and so while we would appreciate "DEEDS NOT WORDS" from you; we would also appreciate "NO WORDS, IF NO DEEDS" from the people who are remotely associated with you.

Today morning, as I was going through the ordeal of watching Pakistan fumble and stumble its way to a win; for half an hour or so, I managed to catch the press conference of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, the new Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. And I was stunned to hear the new CM not thanking the electorate but choosing to thank the separatists and the militants for letting the elections happen. "Ooooof...yippee....I managed to cross the finish line or else I would have gone extinct in this political jungle". This unfortunate vote of thanks surely points to the desperation of this old patriarch of the PDP to get back into the game. Forget the personal ambition of a politician but as a so-called statesman and a Kashmiri at least, such statement could have been avoided. The media was quick to colour it as a controversy and air it to every Kashmiri house and the rest of the country. 

Today was supposed to be the watershed moment in Kashmir's political landscape. Years of cross border blood spill, militancy and misrule had pushed the state into the darkest depths of despair. So when the opportunity came, all the children of the magnificent valley came out in droves to make it a better place(sorry this MJ tune is playing in my head) . This led to the ouster of the incumbent party and Congress had anyways lost its edge. After a lot of deliberations, PDP and BJP joined hands to form a Government even though these two parties are like the two rails of railway track which never meet. However, just as two rails form an efficient railway track joined by common slabs, these two parties also seemed to have found an adhesive to form a partnership for the greater good of the state and its people. We applauded this rare show of political maturity and hoped that this alliance was all for governance and less for power.  

Today was the swearing in ceremony of this new Government.....today was the day of hope....today was the day to send all the right signals....today was the day to celebrate....today was the day to give out a tough message to all the negative forces in the region. Alas, what does Mr.Sayeed do??? He makes us cynical again. More importantly and most unfortunately, he walks out of the Oath taking venue and straight into the hands of the Separatists and the militants from across the border. P in PDP stands for PEOPLES and not PAKISTAN Mr.Sayeed. You have insulted the people of this country who braved bullets to vote for a better future. The resounding success of the election process is our victory and you needed to show(if not believe) your gratefulness to the people of Kashmir, to the Army and to the Democratic machinery at work in this country. Instead, you did the unthinkable.

I am sure this alliance will not be anything more than a fling and at the end of it, each will come out saying in true Bollywood style--"Naah..woh mere type ka nahi tha!!". Nothing productive will result out of this exercise for the man at the helm of affairs is addressing the other side of the Line of Control. Kashmir, according to me, can only prosper if BJP can get a full majority there while they are at the Center as well. Of course, Mr.Modi would need to rein in few of his loose cannons before all of that. God willing, MODI'S TOUCH will then transform into MIDAS TOUCH and Kashmir will be a Golden Valley again!!!