life isn't all ha ha hee hee

Not gonna win a popularity contest after writing this piece; but oh well, I’m a Sagittarian & often experience that lingering after-taste, of feet in my mouth!

Across the last two months, it appears that every newspaper in town, reserves one column at least, for women, who have been the victims of rape, molestation & worse still, some have even been killed, after these heinous acts!

Yes, deep rage directed at these criminals, who deserve the highest form of punishment – can think of an apt form of justice, which I dare not express in a public forum! My heartfelt sympathies for the victims & fingers crossed, that they survive such an ordeal.

Lekin, must confess, that in some cases, in the blame game, the victims participate too:

Today’s ‘Khaleej Times’ reported, that a Japanese stewardess, was waiting for a cab, to take her to the airport. Two men drove up in a car, offered her a lift to the airport & after some hesitation, she accepted their offer & got into the gaadi. Full of lustful intentions & galat iraadey, one of the men got into the back seat & molested her, while his companion drove on.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/nation/inside.asp

Another newspaper described how two young women, after a night of clubbing in Dubai, were looking for transport, to take them back home, at 2am. A middle aged man offered to take them home & they trustingly got into the car. He drove for a while, stopped to pick up a male friend, headed towards the desert area & they raped both the girls.

This is just scratching the surface – you read or hear about such cases very often.

While I agree that such crimes must not be condoned & severe action must be taken, what’s wrong with these women?
• Why, in a foreign country, would any sensible female, get into a car with two strange men?
• Two young women heading towards a night club, without any clue as to how they are going to get back home, late night – what sense does that make?
• We are not talking about naïve young girls – these are educated, self sufficient women of the world; surely they know that life isn’t all ha ha hee hee …?

Yours truly is the paranoid mom of a nineteen year old; I still make panic calls to my daughter, saat samundar paar, who despairs that I refuse to treat her like a sensible adult & check, that for a night out, she is with a safe, familiar group of friends, that they only use the hostel approved cabs & that all important warning about ‘don’t talk to strangers!”

Though my offspring regards me as a freak of nature, I am sure that in parent world, “I’m not the only one …” It doesn’t matter if you have boys or girls, we need to teach ‘em to be safe, cautious & arm them with the necessary skills to be out of harm’s way.

Yep, think we need to add “parenting” to our work info on facebook – a 24x7, full time job; no wages, intensive labor, the hours suck, but still, the only place in the universe, where you can experience heaven & hell at the same time!

“It was the best of times and it was the worst of times” … this classic line from Charles Dickens “A Tale of Two Cities” survives the test of time & describes our lives today – celebrate the best, but be prepared for the worst!