NO WOMAN IS DESPERATE TO BE RAPED!

BY ADITHIMANASA

Dr. Asha Mirje is the woman who made news with her controversial statements.

• Girls should not wear clothes that provoke men.

• Girls need to keep in mind the time when they step out of their house.

• Girls need to be careful about their body language.

Agreed. Girls need to be careful about this; girls need to be careful about that; girls need to be careful about everything. Had she stopped at this, the issue wouldn't have been in the news. Being a gynaecologist and being involved in social service, the statements she made shocked everyone.

• Why did Nirbhaya go to the movie with her boyfriend late in the night? Why didn't she go for a morning or afternoon show?

• Nirbhaya invited her rapists!

Good lord! What a statement! Nirbhaya was not only raped, but also brutally tortured and thrown out of a moving bus. She was not even in a position to seek help. After battling for life in the hospital for many days, she breathed her last. Dr. Asha Mirje said that this lass invited rapists!

The fame chasing Dr Mirje. Photo courtesy: The Dailymail

Had Nirbhaya been Dr. Asha Mirje's daughter, would such words come out of Dr. Asha Mirje's mouth? Moreover Congress MP Supriya Sule sat next to Dr. Asha Mirje as if listening to a sermon. Even this female did not feel like interrupting Dr. Asha Mirje! What is to become of us women if women leaders make such horrendous statements? God save us!

• It was the fault of the photojournalist who was gang raped at Shakti Mills. What was the necessity to go to a desolate area alone?

The victim is a photojournalist! Was she supposed to click photographs and collect information from the comfort of her house?

What about women employees of BPO who work late night? Are they supposed to sleep in the office then? Are graveyard shifts meant for male employees alone? If that is the case, then Dr. Asha Mirje, are you going to provide an alternate day job to all those female workers? If you insist women not to step out of their houses then why are you out here to deliver speeches? Even you need to stay indoors! Else, it means that you are inviting rapists!

According to Dr. Asha Mirje, hairstyles and dressing provoke men. If so then why don't rapists spare infants and school kids? Do children wear provocative dress? Why are churidhar/salwar kameez and burqa clad women eve-teased? Do those women hold placards that read "COME, RAPE US”? Or are such comments written all over their face? How dare you question Nirbhaya's character? Doctor madam, you have no right to point fingers at any rape victim or talk about her morale. You should be ashamed of making such statements. Remember, you too are a woman!

It's the mindset of the rapist and not the clothes on the victim's body that need to be changed. Gentlemen don't get provoked. Rapists, sexual offenders, molesters and eve teasers don't need a reason to get provoked.

First comment and then apologize. Why make such sensitive statements in the first place?

Our answer to those who validate rape. Photo courtesy: Reuters

Dr. Asha Mirje, you crave for limelight. You need to first get treated for this disease of yours. NO WOMAN IS DESPERATE TO GET RAPED! You call yourself a social worker? Then you must instill courage in women, not scare them all the more!

It is not the rape victim but women like you making senseless statements that are disgrace to the female clan.

MISHIKRAFTS- A LAUNCH

BY MADHUMITHA NATARAJAN

Shopping, especially for women, is undoubtedly the best stress-buster. But sadly we live in an era where many are gradually migrating to online shopping. A handful of santhes are organized in cosmopolitan Bengaluru every now and then, but they fail to attract too many visitors.

I happened to bump into one such santhe a few days back. It was organized by MishiKrafts and exhibited a variety of hand-made specialties. The best part, everything was dirt cheap. It was then and there that I decided to write about this one, and I guess I’ll be helping a few with some great gifting ideas!

I would call it a neighborhood santhe, because it was organized in an apartment building corridor; it gave me the feel of ‘home-shopping’, not your home of course. Though  the santhe wasn’t too spacious, one wouldn’t complain as it kept the shoppers in a close-knit gathering, interacting with each other and appreciating each others’ picks. I was surprised at the kind of collection this place had. It practically covered everything that a street-shopper would dole out his/her bucks on! All in one place, without having to walk through sinfully long streets!

If you are a person who loves shopping but your pocket is not so deep, I would suggest you check this out. It has everything: from cosmetics, sarees, dress materials and accessories, to lots and lots more!

But there was something that squarely stole the limelight: homemade soaps! Actually it was the aroma that drove me to them. These are little soaps made of rose petals and other natural scents without any kind of chemical adulteration; they come in unusual flavours like wine, jasmine, cinnamon and lavender, and are also very cutely shaped - hearts, butterflies, bedbugs, roses and designs that your valentine will surely love, if you choose to gift her one! (Oh yes! Valentine’s Day is round the corner; why not try this one out?) 

The prices vary depending on how much it weighs; I paid 50 Bucks for 70 Grams soap and I’ve been using it for over 10 days now and still have half-a-portion left. It saves you the energy of using a scrubber as the rose petals do that job fabulously and the experience is rejuvenating I must say!

I also picked up this homemade and flavoured salt - apparently soaking your feet in warm water mixed with a pinch of this salt, helps relaxing them after a long day in office. (I tried this and trust me; I would suggest this alternative against any pedicure treatments where you shell out hundreds!) These are priced around 40 Bucks for 100 grams and you can use each packet for about 4 sittings! So technically you are spending 10 Bucks for your pedicure, Wow! Isn’t that amazing?

And this little piglet and fish you see, are incense-stick holders. These are about an inch in size and extremely adorable. Your mum or aunt would love it, if you gift them one! Apart from these, there are a lot of branded stuff that are organic and also reasonably priced, compared to many stores in the city. This santhe has handpicked products that are chemical-free, and ones that have the right components that suit every skin and hair type. 

And the bonus, these are not just for women but for men too, so rest assured your spouse/boy friend wouldn’t mind getting you here. Considering the fact that nothing can cause you as much trouble as deciding what to gift a guy, this place will surely help with hassle-free and limited-budget shopping, for stuff that are purely organic and harmless. 

The footfall at the santhe was decent and I saw many passers-by stop, to get a glimpse of it. I actually realized that Bengalureans are always open to such ideas of having homemade, handmade and eco-friendly products!

Overall, the experience was extremely delightful and worthy. We should encourage more such santhes and make the city a unique shopping destination, something that is not seen in other cities. 

TRAINS & NIGHTMARES

BY NOLAN PINTO

It was almost 8 years since I last stepped into a train to travel anywhere and I would not have done it if not for them being damn cost effective especially for short journeys. The cost of a train ticket on the push pull from Bangalore to Mysore at 6 in the evening and then again from Mysore to Bangalore at 6 in the morning is peanuts considering the way the volvo bus tickets cost today and also if one had to drive all the way to and fro.

But what always stopped me from taking one of these trains at these hours was the cattle class treatment. Whenever I traveled, and thought of taking a train journey, I would always stop myself just because of this. But a few weeks ago, I decided after 8 long years to once more give it a try and once I stepped in, I immediately regretted it.

It was in the evening and more than 90% of the passengers were heading home. Many were drunk and sweaty and the stench in the bogey was just unbelievable. To add to the misery were the dull lights and the continuous buzz of many top fans on. But what I hated the most was the ever growing number of passengers entering just literally squeezing me. It was like if you decide to move your finger, you would for sure touch somebody somewhere on their body. My thoughts immediately went to how Jews were transported in train cars stuffed tightly together on their way to be gassed by the Nazis!!

The most common mode of transport can also be very deadly!

Sad though, for the women who had to manage like us men in the stuffed compartment. Men would deliberately push against them and with the train moving continuously, they could always say they did not do it on purpose and conveniently blame the train. To add to that misery for them, many would just keep on staring and one does know what they mean when they stare in that way, they literally rape these hapless women with their eyes.

Why on earth can’t the railways just add more bogeys for these rush hours in the morning and evening? What’s the big difficulty in that? And why can’t they just have at least 2 separate bogeys for women? At least in that if they all stand together crammed up, at least they will be safe from those prying eyes and also unnecessary touch.

Adding more bogeys the solution?

Many years ago while in my final year degree, while returning to Mysore with my classmates most of who were girls, we happened to see something that left us all disgusted. A bunch of young boys, a little older to us brought in a woman and initially made her stand near the toilet. Then it began. One by one, they all took turns to force her into the toilet, finish their work with her for a good 10-15 minutes and get out. This went on for almost half the journey till Mandya and we just could not do anything about it. Even the adults on the train were helpless against this bunch of rowdies. This matter has digressed from the cattle class treatment to security in trains but it happened in the same rush hour train at 6 in the evening.

What I am trying to say here is this: Have extra bogeys during the rush hour and keep at least 2 of them exclusively for women and have some RPF personnel for the safety of passengers even on short journeys moving from one bogey to another continuously. But really, after 8 years, I thought things would have changed but sadly I was wrong.