To Pink Chaddis.

So, I was on FaceBook and spending quite a while there since I'm new to it. And one of the status feeds from my friends indicated that she had joined a new group: Consortium of Pub-going, Loose and Forward Women. Grinning to myself, I sent her a message saying that sounded like an interesting group to join. And then I was curious. I went to the homepage of this group, and that effectively wiped that grin off my face.

Here we were again. Yet another incident courtesy the 'Saffron Brigade'. This time, an off-shoot named "Shri Ram Sena". I loathe them. I don't want to come off as one of 'those feminist beyotches'. But, my rant may end up showing me in such a light anyway. Who cares!

The background here, for the uninitiated, is the fact that around Republic Day 09, they had decided that women who were found in pubs and wearing 'western' clothes were of loose morals. And that said women deserved to be taught a lesson. So, they took the law into their own hands, and attacked (read: beat and molested) these poor girls.. who from eyewitness accounts were not even indecently dressed! Their only fault - their presence at the pub that day.

Now let me state for the record that I'm not a "pubber" or a huge fan of the whole drinking every weekend thing. But, I have the occasional cocktail. So what if some women decided they deserved a night out? Who gave them the right to beat these women up? What were they even thinking? Their leader, Pramod Muthalik (who by the way has 53 legal cases pending against him in a number of districts in Karnataka), explains: "... those girls who flouted the traditional Indian norms and levels of decency" deserved it. What!? Are you kidding me? Just because some women dumped their salwar-kameez for a jeans-and-tee, they became 'corrupt'?

And when did it become only the women who were wayward? What about the male population that drinks and smokes, streaks its hair blond, wears low slung jeans, and shirts tighter than the women themselves! Didn't Samaksh, Bharath and Baburam become Sam, Barry and Bob? Going beyond the basic "Americanization" of the names, there is so much that is happening to India as the youth take a step out of the country and experience new things. How else is a culture supposed to evolve? Are they going to clamp down on all people watching anything on TV that is not Indian? Or close the shores up and insulate everyone, and end up a stagnant mess?

But again, why the women? Just where do they get off on their whole macho 'we're here to preserve the sati-savitri-blah-blah' crap? Such a deep-rooted, misguided movement. Heaven help us all until the day they realize that such atrocious deeds are never going to stop a country from changing. For better or for worse!

For an exotic land that spawned the Kama Sutra, we are a bunch of hugely prudish people. Outwardly, of course! They claimed that they were trying to "preserve Indian culture" and refused to apologize. And that the whole 'aping the West' thing was degrading our society. And to top it all he had the nerve to claim, "We will stop at nothing until we return the land to the Hindus". And they've promised to be on the prowl this Valentine's Day to make sure the Hindutva triumphs!

While I love my country, I'm deeply disturbed by the political climate that lets such violent groups go ahead with their propaganda. Unchecked, these uneducated, pan-chewing (and spitting!) goondas could very well lead to the ultimate degradation of our society. While I'm no George Orwell capable of painting a 1984-esque picture, I shudder to think of the possible outcomes of such groups running rampant, and a hapless society forced into apathy. Why, here I am myself, in a country far away just griping about it; but what would I have done had I been there? What if one of those girls was someone I knew?! Scary indeed.

Find me this Valentine's Day at a pub in Jamaica raising a toast. Salud!