Respect Women! - "Charity begins at home" - Amrita Saha

"Woman"-- what is the first picture that comes up in your mind when you hear this word? To me and many like me the first image that comes up is that of my mother. To others it may conjure images of their wives/girlfriends/sisters or some other supporting female figure in their lives. The point is not about the person we remember, the point is about the attributes we associate with her-love, care and unconditional support. The female figure who makes our house home, our survival life and so on.

But in a strange turn of events, it is time and again that we see women being disrespected and harmed and humiliated in our society. That is evident when we see the atrocious statistics of rape which the UN puts at 250,000 cases of male-female rape or attempted rape in 65 countries in spite of the fact that “according to the American Medical Association (1995), sexual violence, and rape in particular, is considered the most under-reported violent crime.” In this regard I would also like to mention one shocking statistic.

India was dubbed as the fourth most dangerous place for women in the world according to a survey conducted by Thomson Reuters' Trustlaw Women in 2011. The country was placed after Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Pakistan, as cases like female foeticide, infanticide and human trafficking are still prevalent.

The first question that comes to my mind when I look at this is “what is wrong with us?” Is it just an aberration that some people turn out to be so cruel or is it something we encounter every day but fail to recognize until it takes gigantic proportions? When a gang of boys whistle at a girl passing-by, we pass it off as teens having harmless fun, but do we look at it from the point of view of the girl? We do not. But when a guy hears of the same event from his sister, he offers to accompany her from that day on. Why these double standards? Why do we fail to see the bigger picture and realize that the woman being whistled at is someone’s sister/daughter too. If we are so concerned about the safety of our near and dear ones, why do we fail to share the same concern about our fellow human beings? She might not belong to your family but she does belong to the same society and however much we choose to ignore it, the society gives you back what you give to it. You give it care and respect and you will get back the same. Ignoring the injustice done to any woman increases the chances that someone in your family will face the same injustice sometimes in future.

Then again there is a saying “Charity begins at home”. If we look at it deeply, how many of us actually take our home-maker mothers seriously? Do we ever think of her as a human who might have her own opinion too or do we just take her for granted at every step? A man when disrespects his wife in front of his son, sows the seeds of disrespect for women in the minds of his son then and there. When the girl in the family is made to give up her studies the boy learns a woman is not worth even her basic right to education. In the same way, as the boy grows up seeing women in his life being disrespected and their rights trampled upon at each and every walk of life, he grows up believing it to be way of life and deep within he learns to do the same. It is again when a father agrees to pay heavy dowry for his daughter, that the son learns that the girl means nothing but trouble and hence comes his eternal loathing for women in general. From the perspective of the boy, a woman means nothing but trouble, adds no value to the family and in fact increases the economic pressure on the family. No wonder such a boy when grows up to be a man and is married becomes someone who supports female foeticide. It is the values inculcated in him unknowingly by his family, that make him averse to a girl child.

So whenever any crime against woman happens, it is a call for all of us to look at ourselves and our families. It is a call for us to look inside and see what we might be doing wrong in our daily lives that breeds such hatred for women. The small word of disrespect that the dad utters towards the mom can teach the son to treat women as objects of humiliation. It is time we give our actions a great deal of thought. It is time we decide whether the girl or the boy should be allowed to continue his/her study based on sheer merit rather than gender.It is time we judge the actions of our kids objectively rather than put it in sketchy perspectives like “let go…he is a guy after all” or “how could she do this..she is a girl”.It is time we do that if not for us,for the future generation to come because bereft of women there will be no future generation at all.

Here is to a happier healthier society and a better tomorrow :)

Happy International Women's Day

Rape : Whose fault is it anyways?

When a girl is raped whose fault is this girl's or the person who has raped her?

About Victims

1. 44% of victims are under age 18 
2. 80% are under age 30 

Sexual Assault Numbers

1. Every 2 minutes, someone in the U.S. is sexually assaulted 
2. There is an average of 207,754 victims (age 12 or older) of sexual assault each year 

Sexual Assault in Numbers

Reporting to Police

1. 60% of sexual assaults are not reported to the police 
2. 15 of 16 rapists will never spend a day in jail 

About Rapists

1. Approximately 2/3 of assaults are committed by someone known to the victim 
2. 38% of rapists are a friend or acquaintance 

Who is responsible for this? Why women are this much insecure in this world?

When a girl/woman gets raped she became the black icon for whole world even in her own house.... Parents feel ashamed/scared because of the society,surroundings....... no one willing to marry her.... she is banned from every institution/every kind of activities as she becomes impure soul........ But the guy the responsible one moves on like a free bird.... He never ever feels guilty not by himself or by surroundings..... Why a criminal is free and not punished by surroundings only because he is a guy? Law/police everything is there but tell me how many such incidents come forward and deeply investigated with honest verdict..............................

SPORSHO-The Touch

Humankind is poised on the brink of an evolutionary leap. In the last few decades, we have become increasingly aware of the source of our inner peace and enrichment. Depending on our personal background, we express this great discovery differently. Ultimately, our inner harmony and abundance depend on how we react to our outer world.


The creation of peace and plenty in our outer world, however, seems hopelessly beyond our control. In the past century, we've supported widespread social reform. Nevertheless, people are still starving in a world capable of feeding all. In our own country, homelessness and poverty are on the rise. Violence is no longer limited to overseas wars: our streets, even our schools, are no longer safe. The environment that nurtures us is ravaged and raped.


When we acknowledge how our reactions contribute to our inner state, we gain control. Our helplessness dissolves when we stop blaming others for feelings we create. Today, as a society, as a nation, as a collective consciousness, "we" once again feel helpless, blaming selfish others for the world's woes. Our nation's laws, reflecting a composite of our individual beliefs, attempt to control selfish others at gunpoint, if necessary. But just do soul-searching and ask yourself whether it’s enough to ensure a better future for our children. Striving for a better world by focusing on others instead of ourselves totally misses the mark.


We reap as we sow. War and poverty are caused, not by "selfish others," but by our own reactions to them. If we wish to change the world, we must first change ourselves. We have to understand that the World is enriching enough to feed all of us. Wealth is created when we use existing resources in new ways. Since creativity is virtually limitless, wealth is too. It will seem funny, but according to me, we are more likely to protect the environment when we own a piece of it and profit by nurturing it. That’s the only way of preserving our environment given our present state of mind. It’s high time we understood that restoring what we have harmed is the best deterrent of all! It’s high time we redeemed ourselves for all the sins we have committed.


In trying to control others, we find ourselves controlled. In fighting for our dream without awareness, we become the instruments of its destruction. Once we have the courage to accept responsibility for our part of the problem, we automatically become part of the solution, independent of what others do. Nothing could be further from the truth! Widespread peace and plenty can be created within our lifetime. When we understand how to stop fueling the flames of war and poverty, we can manifest our dream. If each of us works on the piece of the puzzle that appeals to us the most, the final picture will reflect the composite of our dreams.


Our choices make our world.....Let’s heal the world, one at a time.....Lets TOUCH each other with solidarity and compassion......Let’s make this World a better place to live in......Join the TOUCH Revolution.....Be the Change......


----- Sandip

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