Highway Project

Sunil ordered masal dosa for himself & one plate roti-curry for Priya without even asking her preference. More than 20 months of closely knit friendship helped them understand each other & some of these minute details went without saying. Sunil and Priya were working on Digital IIR filter project as part of their 5^th semester completion in BTech course. Sunil liked each single moment of being with Priya and he had in fact already proposed her around 3 months back. On the occasion of her birthday, he gifted a latest version of iPhone and its wallpaper contained the text “I LOVE YOU”. She didn’t turn down his proposal, but wanted some more time to think, leaving him in an extended pause mode.

It was quarter to 10 when they finished their day’s work which included a procedural dinner and got ready to leave. Being off semester days, there was no college transport, forcing them to take some other public transport. As they left the campus gate to get a cab, there was a gentle collusion of their little fingers, a display of friendship, yet to blossom as love. They wouldn’t have waited long for getting an auto and they commenced their auto journey back to hostel. Even after boarding the auto, Priya’a conversions were on IIR filters project and she was narrating the huge advantages it had over FIR filters. Sunil had to try a little hard to make her break the topic and discuss something outside college & project. Just when he felt successful about his feat, a bitter surprize awaited them as the auto ran out of fuel. Criticising the auto driver for his inefficient professional conduct, Sunil had to pay part fare and wait for an alternate mode of transport.

The hour hand in the screensaver clock of Sunil’s iPhone was leisurely drifting from 10 & he enjoyed the blessing in disguise of being with her all alone in that highway. The auto driver had already left carrying a 2 litre bottle to get some petrol before the bunk closes. Multiple thoughts ran in his mind by the virtue of the loneliness and freedom that night offered. Every passing second seemed like a preciously carved fire bed for Sunil. Sunil was staring at her which was promptly face-read by her making her to respond with blushing eyes. It was not a planned event, but Sunil made use of the stage well set under the amorousness of new moon and proposed his love once again. Unlike the previous occasion where he had proposed, there was no element of surprize or shock in Priya. There was a brief smile in her lips and heads went down a few degrees to hide the shyness that had crept in.

Not allowing much time for any romantic move to happen, a MUV passed them and halted. It was a transport cab contracted to Macrohard Technologies for offering pickup  drop to its employees. These kinds of chartered cabs carrying general public during off duty hours were a common sight and it supplemented the already existing transport options. Learning that the vehicle was headed towards to the vicinity of their hostel, Sunil & Priya found it convenient in boarding it rather than waiting for auto. The vehicle already had 4 people in it, presumably other passengers wanting to reach their homes at the earliest. Having settled in their seats, Sunil looked at Priya whose face seemed glowing even in the vehicle’s darkness. Within the next few minutes, their hands got intertwined, as an off-shoot of the re-proposal from Sunil few minutes back.

The silence of the romance filled cab journey was interrupted when Sunil noticed that the vehicle was going in a different direction. He immediately alerted the driver that he was taking a detour, but he didn’t bother to heed to the concern raised. Ultimately, it was another passenger who responded, but his trajectory of concern was entirely different. This inquisitive passenger turned towards Priya & enquired whether she was comfortable in her tight outfit made up of tees & jeans. Surprized to note some unknown stranger commenting about her, Priya started howling at him for his indecent behaviour. Irked by her reaction, one other person who was in the cab quizzed her decency levels when she was prepared to roam around in the night with a boyfriend. The person who spoke this was none other than the auto driver with whom they travelled few minutes back. Sunil & Priya were shocked to see him in the cab and smelled some foul play going on.

Before even they could realise what was going on, the vehicle came to a stop in a corner of that remote road and a hand from back started pulling Priya’s pony tail hair. Realising the trap they got into and in the intention of protecting her, Sunil prepared to get down along with Priya. As he kept his hand in the side door, it was forcibly stopped & a cricket bat landed with an impactful blow on his head. To add to the blow, he was overpowered by them and wound to the rear seat restricting his movement. When Priya tried to reach out to her mobile to call for help, her phone was plucked and they targeted her to perform what they had planned for the evening. It was a very quick plan that was triggered when they got a call from their auto driver friend around an hour back, who called them on seeing a young couple in the highway.

In a matter of few minutes, the young couple were under siege and Sunil was unable to display any kind of protest. In the midst of this high drama, Priya suddenly started shouting “Kavey Inimicum” repeatedly. The perpetrators of crime started laughing and wondered whether the girl they caught was a lunatic in modern dress. Sunil has heard this word and it was a magical spell appearing in Harry Porter series, used to strengthen an enclosure from enemies. Sunil was also puzzled whether Priya was expecting some magical power to some and save them. When Priya got exhausted and stopped shouting, her phone started ringing. The enemies in the cab who had then finished their laughing at her lunatic behaviour didn’t care about the ringing phone and got ready to make the most of their time. Sunil was almost drowsy due to the violence leashed out on him while Priya was protesting to her level best to protect herself.

It was exactly 7 minutes after this commotion when a siren sound was heard from a distance. Assuming the siren sound as that of an ambulance, the perpetrators concentrated at attacking their prey. The vehicle came closer and it happened to be a Highway patrol police vehicle. Half a dozen armed police guards rushed out and broke open the MUV cab to halt the mishap that was almost in its final stages. Sunil and Priya were rescued from the vehicle and taken into safe protection by the police personnel. The 5 molesters in their early twenties were arrested and they couldn’t believe at the sudden turn out of events. They had selected this place as it was a remote area and out of complete reach of public or police. The police inspector called the control room and proclaimed that a major crime had been successfully averted.

Back in the hospital where Sunil and Priya were taken for treatment, their condition was termed to be safe. Admitted in nearby beds, Sunil apologised to Priya for not being able to help her. Priya smiled and uttered that it was him who had actually saved both of them. Continuing her smile at Sunil’s confused face, she explained that the saviour was the SOS app that came in-built in the iPhone 9 he had earlier gifted. A pair of words can be coded in the app, which when uttered 4 times continuously will send SOS messages to police control room. She had coded the Harry Porter spell “Kavey Inimicum” as the code word. The app working in background had GPS facility as well to transmit the phone’s exact coordinates for directing the police to the spot. The 2012 Delhi rape episode had become a sensational event prompting Apple to come up with this SOS app in close tie-up with law enforcing agencies across the globe. Sunil was thrilled to hear all these and more importantly, at her presence of mind. Beaming with pride, Priya stretched her hands and gave the phone to him. The first thing that Sunil noticed in the phone was its background image. It was not the one which was there when he gifted. It now read “I LOVE YOU TOO”.

RIP Rape

Hue & cry everywhere for a speedy trial in the Delhi gang rape issue. Inspired by the film she last saw (The life of Pi), apparently the victim tried to overcome her fate, but in vain. Everyone wants the 6 accused to be shown gallows asap. Quite interestingly, the Chief Justice of India has commented that a speedy trial should not be at the cost of fair trial. Government is fully convinced of a fast track court to complete the trial & to ensure justice for Amanat alias Nirbhaya alias Damini. Ajmal Kasab was able to lead a high profile, costly life for about 4 years, but we shall not give even 4 months for these accused.. No doubt that whatever she underwent is unimaginable & simply barbaric. But, will convicting & “killing” all the accused ensure similar incidents will not recur?

Aren’t we missing the bigger picture? Shouldn’t we put in systems & checks to avoid a repeat of what happened?

1.  After watching the film, the duo couldn’t get any public transport to reach their place. It was not a very odd time in the night & they are in the country’s capital. In our country, public transport is a meant only for the poor. When will government make public transport a preferred mode of transport & a reliable one?
2. They couldn’t even get an auto-rickshaw to reach their place. Whatever autos that came also, didn’t agree to take them. As per the registration conditions of an Auto, the auto driver is supposed to ply to any place within the registration limits at the prescribed tariff (guess, off-duty is the only exception). But in our country, we need to request the auto driver & we are at his mercy.. When will government concentrate on implementing their rules, rather than just spending time in passing?
3. Chartered bus – some of you may not know what it means. If a vehicle, say bus or maxi cab runs for a company, the vehicle will get something called “Private Service Vehicle” permit whereby it can only run for that company. If it is for general public, it will be termed as contract carriage & regular route buses will get Stage carriage permit. To maximize their revenue, it is a general scene that in almost all cities, chartered buses which are supposed to run only for their customers will take general public during off duty hours. This practice is so rampant & they are so cold-blooded to solicit passengers even in front of traffic police. Leave aside the huge revenue loss the government incurs in this out of road tax, permit fees, income tax, loss of revenue to government transport corporation etc. Safety, insurance etc are totally missing in such transport modes. In our rape case, this was the major reason & no one even seems to stop this menace of chartered buses taking general public. This issue is linked to point 1. Since the government is unable to provide adequate public transport, people go for other modes. If the accused had killed both of the victims & disposed off their bodies, maybe the deaths would have got added to the numerous “non-traceable” cases..
4. Just before the rape episode happened, a carpenter boarded the same bus & was looted. Am not sure whether he reported it to police or not. If he hadn’t reported, doesn’t it show the lack of confidence he has on the police? If he had reported, shouldn’t the bus be caught in the next junction? The bus had crossed so many police check posts before the entire rape scene was completed. More than speedy trial, isn’t speedy prevention of crime important?
5. Beyond all, what makes the culprits to commit this heinous crime? Are they psychopaths? NO. Are they habitual offenders? NO. It is not that a person who is committing a crime is ok for 7 years rigorous imprisonment & not okay for death penalty.. Should we blame it on our education system? I don’t know. But, we all will definitely agree the growing economic disparities between the powerful few & the disgruntled majority. Highly indirect effect, but nevertheless the future looks quite dangerous..

An item which is so abundant will not have any value & same is the case of people’s lives in our country. Being the second populous country, value for human life has become so cheap. Value for human life is not displayed by sending her to Singapore for treatment, deploying thousands of para-military men for security & by having VVVVIPs waiting in the airport to receive the body. Our Indian cities score much poor in the global liveability report published by various agencies (one solace is that the points are on rise, & score better than our east & west neighbours). Are our politicians & bureaucrats goaled on items like livability index, safety quotient, crime incidence, corruption levels etc? Didn’t our forefathers advocated democracy to ensure all of these stuff?

For the “Breaking news” hungry & competitive media, it was a good opportunity to increase their TRP & circulation. Just like the Anna Hazare episode, this too shall end after couple of months. Many of you will remember the fire incident in a school in tamil nadu where some 40/50 children were burnt to death & the carton towers fire in Bangalore, kolkatta market fire etc.. Are the reasons that caused these incidents addressed now? There are handful schools even in my own locality, which are not so safe, but what can we do? We choose to apply probability and say “it won’t happen to me”. We fail to address the root causes after these kind of issues & switch over to the next topic when we get bored. As usual government’s job is to make rules & our job is to flout them by feeding the hungry power holders. Maybe the accused may eventually say good bye to the world, but when will we be able to say good bye to rape incidents & other forms of crime?

I want to end this note with a highly controversial topic. What is rape? It is some kind of bodily pleasure which a person of 1 gender finds in the other against the wishes of the victim. Normally the person who motivates someone to perform a crime should get tougher punishment than the person who actually commits. The entire action of raping is due to god gifted hormones that gets added to the person’s ill-laden mind. Thus, is the crime having the urge to have sexual pleasures or the action of having forceful sexual pleasure? Definitely the latter, as the former is nothing but nature. So, if there are legal ways to satisfy the urge, wont it avoid the crime of rape? If you give rice or wheat at a cheap price, why will someone want to steal? May look indirect, but is very much direct. There is a positive correlation between legalising prostitution & reduction in incidence of rape. You may check in goggle about this, but believe me, it is a fact. My point here is to have prostitution in a controlled & legalised manner, which in addition to reducing rape cases will also help overcome spreading of STDs. Inspite of having rules against prostitution, we all know that is happening everywhere & we also know who is gaining out of that. Instead of having ineffective rules, we can as well slightly relax the rules & enforce whatever is really possible.. (when I spoke this topic with my wife, she was totally against it & I guess so many will do the same)..

Cheers,

Gowrishankar.