Girl Interrupted...



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It started one fateful December day
When a girl laid unaware of the fate that lay
Returning home from the movies, no fear in her mind
But thats not what happens, not what she finds

She gets on a bus with her friend in tow
Soon they find themselves in the midst of a row
Due to the leering and jabbing of six other men
Thats when her nightmare really begins

She was plundered, hurt, beyond belief
Tortured and left with no relief
The atrocities on her one cannot tell
If there is one, surely this is hell

In the darkness on the roadside she laid in vain
Terribly hurt in so much pain
Passers-by moved on without a glance
It seemed like this was her very last chance

An hour passed by and finally there came
A patrolling car upon where she lain
The hospital was her next pit stop
And thats where she went with noone to talk

In the Intensive Care Unit were her next few days
In and out of coma thats where she lay
Till the time she opened her eyes and gave
Her statement to the cops who could her save

In the meanwhile the culprits were out in the open
Without fear, without their own spirit broken
Until the media put the whole incident on air
On the tv, the internet, pretty much everywhere

The public was outraged, the people were horrified
For once there was such a hue and cry
How could such atrocities on a girl be done
Would the same have happened had it been a son

The pressure mounted, the culprits were caught
The Delhi police for once did their part
At last it seemed justice would be dwelt
Thats what it seemed like, thats what it felt

But alas the nightmare was not yet over
There was more to come, more to go over
The girls statement the cops tried to twist
The PM never spoke one word of this

The public was hit with sticks while they
In protest for her on the streets lay
The government once again has failed to report
Any change of laws for womens safety hereforth

The only saving grace is the spirit of the girl
With courage and determination she fights the world
The public and the media all in her support
No matter what the governments official report

We hope she with justice will be met
The perpetrators, the strictest punishment, will get
Rules will be changed, laws will be rectified
Thats when we as a nation will take pride

But the government's a joke and the cops don't care
The people are outraged, it's more than they can bear
Is this a revolution...a revolution of sorts
If yes, to help her, lets do our little part


Let's all do our little part to help - you can start by signing this petition to bring justice to her and to help safeguard the dignity, security, and future of women in India -

http://www.change.org/en-IN/petitions/president-cji-stop-rape-now

Thank you all.

Social v/s Social



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I have been meaning to write this blog entry for quite some time now and finally got the time to pen my thoughts to paper (or to the keyboard in this case :p). So here's my little bit of a rant on 'Social Media'.

I often think about the word 'social' and what it 'truly' means in todays world. A decade and a half ago, a social person would have been an outgoing person, an inherent extrovert, a sort of 'jack-of-all-talks & trade' - but does the same apply today? To be a 'social' person, one had to go out, meet others, make contacts, create networks, entertain guests, be a friend to friends, host dinners, and the list goes on. So is that what Social Media helps us achieve in today's world?

The web definition for social media is, and I quote, - 'A media for social interaction, using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques.' Okay...I agree with the second part of that definition that social media does use highly accessible and scalable techniques...but what about the first part? Does social media lead to social interaction in the real sense of the word?

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Yammer (for corporates) are some examples of the topmost social media sites currently in use. To dissect this further, how does posting on a Facebook wall make you more social? Same goes for Twitter - how does a minute-by-minute update of your status increase your status quo? How can posting YouTube videos make you a more communal member of society?

Some might argue that platforms such as Facebook help unite long lost friendships etc. which may eventually lead to a social interaction. But isn't that a somewhat rare occurrence that is almost always eclipsed by the other activities such as updating statuses, posting pictures, check-in's etc. that are much more rampant on a media such as Facebook?

Don't get me wrong - I heart platforms such as Facebook and YouTube - just that I wholeheartedly feel that the term 'social' is such a misnomer here. Wouldn't  'Interactive Media' or 'Entertainment Media' be better suited? Or have times changed so much today that this is the new 'social'? The easier form of being friendly, making friends, having conversations all via the safety of your computer screen?  Being social with no obligatory strings attached - no fretting over the perfect dinner plan or table layout to entertain a gathering - now all it takes is a simple click of the mouse.

Call me old fashioned, but social for me definitely implies physical interaction, the laughing with a friend, the shouting over a game, the face-to-face talks. So in my mind the question still remains - how is 'Social Media' making us more sociable?