The Dear Departed - 2012

It is 31 December and time to look back at the year gone by. Just as Wordsworth wrote in his Ode to 'Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood': "Another race hath been, and other palms are won", we can say that 'another year has been'. But what next? As I flip the pages of my 2012 Diary, I almost relive all the experiences - some sweet, some sour, a few bitter and some beyond being just sweet. So it had all the shades of grey. After all, life is never black or white!

Mixed Emotions

The bitterness was not all personal but social too as one person is not a detached being, he is a social being and hence, cannot live in water-tight compartments. And it's not either about the gender too! Whenever a rape or molestation case is reported I am affected as a human being first and then as a woman. But my talking of 'human being' and 'humanity' might seem out of place as 'being human' is just fashionable but it's not a practical reality. We 'humans' have a very short term memory. We see, hear, discuss and just as easily forget all things. Candle-light vigils are alright, but have we started to change our mentality or have we tried to change the sick mentality of others. Until and unless we 'the common man' changes no change will be absolute. Being totally dependent on the government to do something will be nothing short of a tragedy. Oh! but why have we deviated into discussing things seriously? We should be preparing for our new year bash! After all, life goes on, isn't it? How does it matter if a person died of inhuman brutality? How can we imagine the plight of the 23-year old's dear ones left behind tormented and shattered? Right?

Everything is a combination of both good and bad, same is true for a year. And for 2012 as well...but at the same what remains with us for a comparatively longer time is how the things end. If something ends on a good note, it leaves an after-taste of gaiety. But this time 2012 does nothing of that sort. The after-taste this time is a very bitter one. It is not just about one case, the point is the crime continues unabated. The ones who should be taking some concrete steps are busy in suggesting a ban on skirts or opposing the death penalty to be included in the Rape law or pressurizing parents for a hushed up cremation in the wee hours. Where will it take things? Nothing much to expect I suppose...

I apologize for having written on this because may be readers would expect something literary on a literary blog. But if a writer is not sensitive, who will be? Kindly ponder over this... "Don't mourn my death, preserve my thinking and carry forward my fight" - that will be the real tribute to the departed soul and the dear departed 2012 too!