I don't know what to write. I don't know how to write. I don't know what I can say that has not been said before. When I was in Bombay last week I wanted to blog about the fabulous time I had with my old and new friends, my family, the food I ate, the lovely beach walks I took, the shopping I did. I wanted to talk about how wonderful it was to be back in India. How I feel so loved and cherished when I am there. How beautiful life is in Bombay. How I adore been back.
However I could not get myself to do it. How can I be happy being in a country where life is not valued? Where a girl can get raped and subsequently die, while authorities merely give out politically correct statements? Where another girl is compelled to kill herself as she was humiliated by the police when she tried to lodge a complain against her rapists.
It's shameful. It's tragic. I feel defenseless when others criticize my nation, but what else can I expect them to do? A nation that can't protect it's people, is not a nation worth defending.
There is anger, rage even. People are organizing protests and marches. There is lot cyber chatter. There is a lot of resentment. Voices are being raised. Everyone is appalled. It's justified and I perhaps have contributed to it.
We all want justice. We all want to see the bastards die. I know I do.
However, lets also spare a thought for families and friends of the victims. Imagine what they would going through. The parents of the two girls who would have raised them with love and pride. Who perhaps had lots of dreams for them. Whose biggest prayer to God would have been to keep their daughters healthy and happy. Now they have lost their daughters. And not by accident, but by evil intentions of cruel people. My heart goes out to them.
However I don't know what to do. Does the world need yet another blog, FB update, Twitter hash tag about this issue? May be it does.
The parents and family of the victims however need more. They need strength to survive, to fight. They need faith that justice will take place. They need assurance that Government will make the streets safer for women.
They need our prayers. A prayer for another has a lot of power. Don't underestimate it. So like me if you are struggling with 'What can I do?', close your eyes, join or raise your hands and pray to your God for the suffering families. It's the least we can do and it's power is much bigger than you can ever imagine.
Instead of spending the few minutes commenting on this post or liking the various other updates, use the time to pray for the families the girls have left behind. They will value it a lot more than one more FB comment.
