At Brunch, we always strive to bring cheer and enjoyment to your Sunday mornings. But some weekends are meant for anger and pain. Like the weekend of December 22-23, when enraged Delhi youngsters braved water cannons, lathis and tear gas as they protested against the horrific gangrape of a 23-year-old girl. Or like the weekend of December 29-30, when the entire nation mourned her tragic death.
It was as if a dam had burst inside all of us. All the bottled-up agony - of reliving personal experiences of sexual harassment, of constantly reading about crimes against women and seething at our inability to do anything about it - all that pent-up anguish and rage came pouring out.
The young people of this city, this country, are still angry. And when young people get angry, governments should listen. Alas, our present government - with politicians and bureaucrats who seem even more fossilised than dinosaurs - don't seem to understand. They think that if they mouth platitudes in front of TV cameras, all will be well. But they are wrong. It will take genuine emotion and sincere, time-bound action for young people to believe in them and respect them.
I do hope though that our netas and babus know this: that when young people get angry, the world is never the same again. And that fossils are swept away in the dust by the forces of change and history.
{{/usCountry}}I do hope though that our netas and babus know this: that when young people get angry, the world is never the same again. And that fossils are swept away in the dust by the forces of change and history.
{{/usCountry}}This issue of Brunch went to press a week ago, but extracts from the cover story appeared on hindustantimes.com/brunch on December 29.
From HT Brunch, January 6
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