A Form of Protest

So, today seems to be the day for social activism in the University I attend. Because I don't agree with the method of activism by the rest of the student population in my University, I thought I'd add my two cents here. 

So, I attend Jadavpur University (goodbye anonymity, you will be missed), and for those of you who don't know what happened in the past few days, here's a quick summary--

On the evening of 28 August 2014, an undergraduate history honours student was dragged off to the boys' hostel by 10 (possibly drunk) guys and molested. The student body rose against it, and a case was filed and requested an impartial investigation. The VC of Jadavpur University assured such an investigation, but somehow, it never came into being. Simultaneously, one of the professors here went to the girl's house and started asking questions like 'were you drunk?', 'what were you wearing?', etc. The student body got even more agitated and called for the resignation of the professor in question. However, it realised that attention from the main issue was being diverted, so the student body decided to launch a peaceful, non-violent dharna in front of Aurobindo Bhawan. These people sat and made art (sang songs, painted posters, wrote poetry, discussed the problems within the issues and sough to resolve differences among themselves) for over 150 hours. However, night before yesterday, the police surrounded the campus, locked all  exits, brought along water cannons, tear gas and lathis. They gave one warning for the students to disperse, but the students refused (they were still sitting and singing songs and there was no violence involved from the side of the students). When the students refused, the police lathi charged at the weaponless, non-violent body and put a lot of them in the hospital. One, I think, is on ventilation. About 40 more were injured, but weren't serious enough to be hospitalised. The police arrested 8 of those students and didn't even provide water to the students in jail. They were released sometime in the morning and went back home to realise that the VS had given a press statement saying that the students were torturing him (as far as I know, everyone in the group who was singing was a really good singer-- I don't know what the VC is complaining about). So today, the student body, along with faculty members and people from outside of Jadavpur are coming together to boycott and ask for the VCs resignation. 

While the efforts of the student body are very commendable, I find myself unable to join them. This is mostly because I don't think they're fighting the right person. Jadavpur University is a State University and the ultimate control over it is with the current government in power, that is, TMC (Trinamul Congress). The VC is just a puppet in their hands. Even if the VC was to resign under the pressure from so many people, he will be replaced with a person who will also be TMCs puppet.

I find myself astonished by the lengths that TMC will go to to prevent the case from being solved. To be honest, I don't think that TMC would interfere to such an extent if it is not invested in protecting those 10 students. Therefore, I assume that those 10 students have heavy ties with the TMC. That's why I don't think that boycotting and making the VC resign will help in any way to bring justice to the molested girl. The new VC will also be as invested in protecting those 10 boys as this one, because even the new VC will be nothing but TMCs puppet. 

Now, with the knowledge that it's actually TMC who's running the show, what can we do to get the girl justice? In an ideal world, the solution would be to bring down TMC itself. But we know that it can't happen.So, what other avenues are available to us?

1. We can try and cut the ties between TMC and those ten guys. Make it so that the effort to protect those 10 guys become too much for TMC and it gives up on protecting them. Which basically means that we need to create trouble for those guys as much as possible (Personally, I think leaking their identities on the internet and thinking about their connections to the TMC would be cool. As for invasion of privacy, they didn't respect the privacy of the girl they molested. I don't see why their identity should be kept a secret).
2. Use the VC as the mediator that he is. Negotiate a middle ground with the TMC. For example, they might agree to a public apology issued by the ten guys, the VC and the police. It might not be enough but it is something. As I said earlier, this is not an ideal world, so we can't get everything we want. We might have to settle for partial justice. 

   I'll end by reminding you all not to forget that our main objective is to get justice for that girl. Let's not be blinded by the outrage that the lathi charge caused and deal with the issue in a manner that brings about the results we want as quickly as possible. Remember that the lathi charge might have been a tactic to push the issue closer towards the puja holidays, and the puja holidays might damoen the vigour with which we protest now. Justice delayed is justice deferred.

PS- I will admit that I might have misinterpreted the situation in some ways and that I might lack some facts about the situation, but the core of my argument remains the same-- VC is a pawn in the game that TMC is playing. We need to be very careful how we move ahead.  

PPS- If you have any other suggestions that might help resolve the issue, please let me know




Photo credits: aneyezine.com
Check out their article on this issue for more details.
Link: http://www.aneyezine.com/hokkolorob/

The Autopsy Report

It's hard for us to swallow that

life isn't what it is in the movies.

We turn bitter as pills when

people we love don't love us back

and no amount of cough syrup 

consumed

can make it better.

All the MRI's are useless

because they can't tell why

our bones feel so heavy

and an open-heart surgery reveals

that we have a heart

but we can't feel it beating. 

All this-- all of us

are drowning in 

translucent anodyne. 

Enchantment of Words and Lures of a Hope.

A tiny smile spreads,

As another message beeps.

Like a simple enchantment,

In words, we speak.

Some delight develops,

And, fills their sober heart.

Under the shadows of the night,

There sings a chorus in their hearts.

Like the stars that stir,

Talking as they twinkle;

The lovers, underneath,

The stars, they resemble.

Into the early lights of dawn,

Forgotten were the hours for slumber.

The smile spreads longer,

As the phone beeps again.

Beneath the moon,

That both share.

In faraway places,

Their hearts briefly despair.

In notes of silence of a lingering wait,

A ballad of affection slowly creates.

And so returns the smile,

With lures of words and a hope.

Swati Jain

Going Away

So, I recently shifted studies for reasons pertaining to my education. The city I've shifted to has this feeling of age, if you know what I mean. I look down from my balcony and I feel that the hospital next door has been here for centuries, with its generator groaning continuously, day and night, until it becomes silence itself. 

The birds don't stop chirping here. The dogs bark all night. People start yelling at 5 AM in the morning, which is how I wake up. It rains every afternoon here. The people are so, so kind and helpful. 

While I still dream of Sattal, this is a place that I have fallen in love with very quickly. I've found few but good friends here ( a real feat for me, considering how shy and reserved I am) and I'm loving my course, my readings (even if it's Dickens's Bleak House). 

This city isn't home, though. I have only gone away from it. This city has the potential to be my home, and I'm scared it will be, because I already have a home. 

My home is where the people I love live: my family, my friends (D, A, R). And I make this post today as a sudden bout of nostalgia hits me. God, I miss you guys. 

On this note, I end this post because I'm about to burst into tears. 

Till next time!

Yours, 
Orange  

Title Under Progress

"...I want so desperately

to be finished with desire,

the rushing wind, the still

small voice."

~Boston, Aaron Smith

You're finished with desire

And the desire finishes you.

I seek to articulate loss

of what I never had,

never owned,

of what was never mine to begin with.

I cannot own time,

nor moments spent together.

Seconds slip through my memory,

fade away, 

until they finally disappear.

I want to be done with it: 

this all-consuming desire,

before it is done with me--

before it finishes me.

But I am already burning.

Fallen Umbrella

In all those windy days,

During all those

Aerial nights.

I thought you’d stay

I thought you’d stay.

That one reason to fight

Myself, to let you stay,

Falling low, falling stray.

Walking besides the beach,

In that little, hardly rain.

Thinking and thinking,

Over and over again.

It wasn’t worth it,

You weren’t worth it.

You’re just like them,

All those other men.

Unforgettable, as ever.

But makes me no clever.

Risked it all,

Put my heart on tow.

Throwing away

All those unsent letters,

Putting away

That really mattered.

Watching them fly,

Free bird at night,

Fluttering on the water,

Disturbing, the quiet.

I feel cheated,

For what I felt was real.

In this, perhaps, last letter,

I wouldn’t say, I love you.

Throwing away my umbrella,

Running from the memories.

Swati Jain

Capturing It. Insane Speaking

My recent purchase and hobby has sent me walking around my house capturing pictures of different things. Mostly, I express my feelings in writing and poems but this new insane, of course, craze has opened a whole new world of learning for me. I am just a beginner, so please be very nice and tell me how are my pictures coming!