We claim to live in a civilized society, yet we knowingly behave in uncivilized ways. We are aware of the law, legal and moral, yet we willingly stray. So what is it that leads so many of us astray? What is it that brings out the Hyde in us even when the Jekyll begs abstinence?
Last evening on my way home from work I saw a couple of guys zoom past on a bike. They slowed as they approached a girl walking about 200 meters ahead. And in a flash the pillion rider thrust out his hand, squeezed the girl's buttock, and before the girl could react zoomed away.
The girl was shocked. She just stood there for a minute, then gathered herself, and looked around guiltily. The next thing I knew, she hailed an autorickshaw and left in a hurry. As she got into the rick, she looked back and I could see tears in her eyes.
I was left thinking as to what kind of a society are we living. A girl gets molested, the molesters ride away as if what they did was their birth right. And worse, the girl ends up feeling guilty for no crime of hers.
Shouldn't it be the offenders who should feel guilty? The guys looked educated. So what is it that makes literate people do things that most so called illiterates refrain from indulging? Are parents not teaching children what's right and what's wrong? Aren't schools imparting education that teaches people to treat fellow beings as humans and not as objects with which one can behave in any manner that one deems fit?
Why is it that if someone were behave in a similar manner with the sister/mother/wife of one or both of the bike riders, their reaction would have been one of outrage and anger? Isn't every woman the mother, sister, or wife of someone?
And I have always wondered, what pleasure does one derive from such acts that hurt people? I am at a loss. Looks like when it comes to satisfying desires, Hyde is scoring over Jekyll 10 on 10. That dear friends is a sad reflection of the heady times that we live in.
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