And what if she was?

A group of patriots had gathered to commemorate the 78th Day of Indian independence.

- MAHESH NARAYAN

It was a sombre and solemn occasion, an outcome of recent events. It is said that the sun finally set on the British Empire in 1947, but for many, the sun has still not risen. A dichotomy loomed as to whether the Tiranga (tricolour) was to flutter in full glory or at half-staff and in full fury.

Nirbhaya and Abhaya have come and gone, but what has remained is nothing but "bhaya". I fie on ourselves. We seem to be taking Sisyphean steps by creating a dystopian reality that is antithetical and farther away than ever before to the utopian dream described in the Rajendra Kishan Duggal anthem: "Jahaan daal daal par sone ki chidiyaan karti hain basera wo Bhaarat desh hai mera Jahaan saty, ahinsaa aur dharm ka pag-pag lagtaa deraa wo Bhaarat desh hai mera jahaan har baalak ek Mohan hai aur Raadhaa ek ek baalaa aur Raadhaa ek ek baalaa kisi nagar me kisi dwaar par koi na taalaa daale koi na taalaa daale." It was while attending this and a separate morcha called to decry the events at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital that it dawned upon me that only a handful of people participated from the hundreds who were informed in advance of the proposed gatherings. If one were to itemise those present, i.e., looking into the 1st decimal provenances of those participating, 95 per cent were from West Bengal. At the second decimal, one mahila had relatives who attended RG Kar.

Comments were made, and the morcha duly dissolved. Here, too, some comments, as is the wont, were qualified condemnations. "She, being a doctor, deserved better." What if she was not a doctor but an aam aurat? Nevertheless, such a tendency to categorise the victim versus a carte blanche censure is commonplace the world over. More on the topic sometime in the future.

By the time this, if at all, gets inked in the press, I reiterate that nirbhayas will have come and gone, and so will have abhayas. What remains in us, at least in half of our collective conscience, is bhaya.