Addressing safety issues

How to write coherently about the mundane when the larger picture looks grim?

The bigger stories this week have been tragic in the extreme. A little girl saying she was raped by her cousin and some neighbours for over a year. A fire in a heritage building in Kolkata, that took away lives just like that. Both incidents underline safety issues. The latter forced a wake up call across cities as to potential fire hazards, and in an obvious attack of conscience, authorities delayed the fashion week in Delhi, due to start Wednesday, for a day, till the organisers obtained the necessary fire-safety permit.

The former stresses the safety of little ones, and it cannot be emphasised enough. If one is following headlines closely, it will emerge that it’s not just little girls, but little boys too who are soft targets for deviant behaviour. The acute horror of such incidents defies description, the ramifications strike perhaps more closely upon those of us who are parents. Especially when it’s outlined that the alleged perpetrators are not the shadowy unknowns that we warn our children about, but family and neighbours: in short, inner circle.

‘Never talk to strangers’ we tell our little ones, hoping the menace of the wolf in Red Riding Hood will hit home and underline how terrible strangers can be. But what if that ‘stranger’ is not a shapeless, faceless, bestial other? What if he’s the kind ‘uncle’ we’ve always known, who’s supposed to do nothing more sinister than smile at our babies?

Reports are now emerging that medical evidence is not supporting the story of the little girl in question. However this particular case develops, the fact remains that in the face of the growing number of such incidents, we must strive to protect those who cannot protect themselves. Try and be alert to warning signs from our babies, make them understand what kind of touch is unacceptable, these are just some ways in which we can try. And we must try, because going by reports of incidents these days, the big bad wolf isn’t the one in the woods, or up on the chimney far enough away. He’s the one in the sheep’s clothing leering up close and personal, enough to chill our very bones.
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Something to draw away from the prevalent heaviness: The strict ‘don’t drink and drive’ diktat is truly making it’s presence felt in the city. Not only are the roads safer (praise be), but many from Mumbai’s glamouratti are recounting, quite cheerily too, how they don’t drive themselves home if they’re planning to have a party night on town: instead they make their drivers do overtime, or then, simply take a cab. So the real party people now are all the cabbies and charioteers: they’re making quite a killing, these nights!