The weather had been pleasing me this morning. The whole campus looked like a wet canvas from the terrace. The grass looked lush green on top of which the sky had wore a Prussian cloak. I could see canopies bathing in the light drizzle and doctors enjoying the flavors of tea on the tea post. Most importantly, everybody looked happy and elated. Funny, how weather can do such miracles.
Anyway, I had taken a break from my books by 7 and decided to go out on a walk with a friend to shower in the elation of nature. We were discussing the arterial supplies of various body parts and the magnificent arts our brain could perform. All of a sudden, the drizzle turned into heavy rain and we realized it too late. We were stuck in the middle of the campus and decided to wait under tree for the rain to stop. We were having a good chortle about the silly superstitions indian parents had. While our discussion was going on, I had been constantly noticing people gawking us in our faces and passing by. We were at sixes and sevens- as to what was really going on. We continued vocalizing.
After a while, we saw one of our local guards coming towards us. He stopped and asked find some other place to talk to which we asked,” What happened?” And he replied,”The warden asked me to tell you that it didn’t look right”. I couldn’t believe my ears.
I was almost flabbergasted by this silly comportment.
It didn’t look right.
Boys getting drunk and eve teasing looked right to them. People spitting around the campus looked right to them. Staffs not responding to the parents looked right to them. Stray dogs being kicked by the people looked right to them but two friends talking in a perfectly adequate and sober demeanor didn’t look right to them.
I wondered how people judged the righteousness by one’s gender.
I felt completely ashamed not by the fact that I was accused of being someone who didn’t go by the “rules” of the Orthodox indian society but because of the people I was surrounded with had such mindsets about girls and boys.
Why has it been so hard in our society to apprehend the fact that girls and boys can be friends and nothing more? Is it because of all the Bollywood movies we have been watching since inception? Or was it because of those few people who couldn’t bear the sight of growth in the society?
People talk about being modern, they talk about going to big cities and wearing short clothes. They tell their parents to gel up with the new generation and take a “chill pill” but I wonder how many of us actually understand the proper meaning of “modern”. Being modern is accepting the Independence of the individuals around us. It is the urge to learn something new. It is the concept of broadening our mindsets and nothing more.
Let people live how they want to, show them the right directions if they go wrong but don’t try to push them anywhere. If they’re wrong, they’ll learn and if they’re not, they’ll earn.
Let’s try to be actually modern and not dwell around the pseudo aspect of it.