I am what you
would refer to as an average guy, in all respects. Average looks, average
build, average brains, average friends. Nothing really jumps out at you, about
me. I am currently pursuing an engineering course (which almost everybody is
doing nowadays), from a reputed institution. But far apart from this, from
average existence, exists my dream existence. Yes, I am a dreamer. Not a
dreamer in a romantic, poetic sort of a way, but in a very serious context.
Whenever I go to bed, I have this habit of just shutting myself off from my
average world and zoning off into my dream existence. I imagine myself to be
this all powerful, omniscient ruler, who can influence peoples’ thoughts by
moulding their brain energies. Normally, I have quite a lot of fun with this
little hobby of mine, but recently, this pastime took a very serious turn. It
was 17th December, 2012. I was at my home, enjoying the well
deserved vacations, flipping through TV channels, and sipping my morning coffee,
when a news flash caught my senses. It was a coverage about a brutal rape of a
young girl in a moving bus in the capital. That single news item induced a
myriad of emotions through me. Anger, fear, denial, disbelief, and finally the
most painful, sadness. What had humanity come to? How can we even allow
ourselves to call us civilised beings? That night, when I went to my dream
palace, I conjured up a world where I dreamt of the perfect men.
Men, who
wouldn’t rape innocent girls. Men, who wouldn’t be tied down by social stigmas
and their own mountain high egos in matters concerning the women in their
lives. It is a popular saying that a service in the army makes a man out of
you. I believe that’s very true. The army life plugs in discipline, respect,
pride, and a sense of protection into every man’s core. That is what a man
should truly be like. Not some psychopathic criminal, who assaults defenceless
women to showcase their strength, their manhood. ‘The place of a woman is in
the kitchen,’ goes another old dictum. For ages men have felt threatened,
emasculated, when women have stepped up to take charge. In my dream world men
would be more accepting of the evolving role of women in today’s world. They
say that God created Eve from Adam’s rib. Not from his shoulder, to be above
him, or from his leg to be under him, rather to be right beside him, and near
his arms to be protected by him. But in this real, average world, women have
been reduced to objects of lust and craving. In my dream world, respect for
women would be the primary code for all men. Upon seeing a woman alone in a bus
at night the six men in my world wouldn’t brutalize her, rather they would make
sure that she gets to her destination without any troubles. They would be the
classic 18th century English gentlemen, but with the spirit of a
fighter to protect their loved ones and defend their homeland. Yes, patriotism.
That, I believe, is non-existent in today’s men. Love for your nation is the
purest form of emotion possible, I strongly believe. From my dream palace, I
would create such men. Men who would make this world a habitable, civilised
place, and not vandalise its decency by dehumanized acts. Such should be the
perfect men. Such would be a man I would want to be. Such would be a man my
country, my parents, my siblings, my friends, my girlfriend, and many more
people I have never even met would want me to be.
Shubhendu Satsangi
Editor at STIMULUS INDIA !
