SOME DIFFICULT QUESTIONS

During this last one month images and voices related to the Delhi Rape,the subsequent protests and debates have flooded our lives.My daughter had a few difficult questions for me,here I try some answers.

Why does this girl hide her face?
This was a shocker,it came after she saw graphics similar to the ones mentioned in this article,which represent the woman survivor of a sexual crime as SHAMED.

But as any logic would point out shouldn't the wrongdoer be shamed instead of the victim of the wrongdoing?The worn out logic of social stigma against the survivor needs to break.

I told her she is not hiding her face,she is not ashamed,she is hurt.If we support her she will surely show us her face and smile some day.

Why did bad men kill her?

She is too young to understand what bestiality they subjected her to before attempting to kill her finally,but that doesn't lessen the impact of this query from a four year old.What kind of images of men is she forming in her mind,I wonder?

She still doesn't understand death due to violence fully yet knows killing is a bad word and a bad deed.

I told her sometimes we all are tempted to do bad,hurt others.But if you are being hurt by some one ever,speak up and if ever you are tempted to hurt some one remember its BAD and STOP.

Can I go in a bus when I am a big girl?

Wish I could say no to this.But then wouldn't I be participating in the extended conspiracy of locking-up our girls from public spaces due to fear of sexual or other exploitation?

I tell her you can but you have to be vigilant and brave,hoping that by the time she is old enough to take a bus alone things would have changed for the better for her and all us women.