PAPA DON’T preach, perhaps is the attitude of today’s kids or teenagers. Like all other antagonists I would also start my opinion with – I am not against anybody or anything. What Sri Ram Sena did in Mangalore could never garner the necessary support from the civil society. There is no denying the fact that their act was highly deplorable and not at all masculine. Torturing, humiliating women not only indoors but in public as well is against the basic philosophy of Hinduism.

 

The humiliation in Mangalore has become a much debated topic across the length and breadth of the country. While we may be correct in saying that these things should not happen and nobody has the right to stop anybody from doing anything they want to do as an adult we may be brushing the real issue under the carpet. There is no point to jump on popular bandwagon if we do not want to the address the issue in a more mature manner. Sri Ram Sena, and actions of similar groups, presents us with an opportunity to look at the problem from other perspective and find the solution acceptable to all i.e. the civil society in India.

 

Couple of months back, a television channel had undertaken a sting operation where an undercover reporter was entrusted the duty of exposing the realty in pub and discotheque. The scene in the pub was bizarre and shocking. Though the pictures were blurred but it was clear enough to show that couples were so busy in displaying their smooching skills that they seemed unperturbed by the presence of so many guys and girls around them. In the same pub he came across a girl who on being approached was ready to accompany him for six thousand rupees for a night. This is the not the first incident or expose of its kind to highlight the dark world under flickering lights.

 

There have been cases across India were these have been highlighted and happily forgotten. Almost all the times it was found that girls involved in these types of activities were from affluent families. Poor women forced into flesh trade have reasons to explain her involvement in sex racket, but what reasons those educated women who were raised by well to do families could offer for their involvement in sex trade of a more expensive kind. One must understand this is in light of the age old tradition of arranged marriages. That we are in a society where women have come out of the confinement and progressed in every field to the point of self sustenance make it even more hair-raising for the advocates of arranged marriages.

 

There are two societies in India one whose values are constantly changing and another which is clinging on to the traditional values. The attack on the pub in Mangalore is the tussle between the gasping values of restraint ruling the psyche of yesteryear’s generation and the promiscuous values of today’s generation. We are slowly heading towards a culture where we would find real love not just in one person but in many persons at different points of time like the western world where people find themselves lucky nth time on finding nth partner. People must learn from case of Fiza, the estranged wife of Chand.

 

There are ways to deal with this problem but certainly not the way Sri Ram Sena did. Apart from the existing legislations and laws we need to enact few more laws directed to the pubs. For instance to reduce the intoxicating effects of alcohol on pub goers, and hence any unwanted incidences following its consumption, the alcohol content should be abysmally low in beverages served in the pubs. The government must separately prescribe the limit for supplies meant for pub and bar. Install close circuit camera and place the whole pub under surveillance of a designated person authorised to impose monetary fine to find anybody enacting the bedroom scenes in the pubs. Also force the pub owners to blacklist anybody doing things usually done behind the closed doors and ban their entry in their pubs. The state government, on its part, can ensure that those blacklisted and banned by any pub, are restricted to enter any other pub in the city so that the banning pub does not suffer at the hands of competition.

 

These could be more benign way to prevent things for which organisations like sena have gone berserk. This is the effective antidote against Mangalore type of activities. But the most effective step would be self-discipline and restraint on some issues. As a youth, one should not forget that the Indian traditions are not based on hollow principles. These have stood the test of time and are relevant even today. It’s only a matter of perception. What parents teach their children is for the benefit of the children themselves, not the parents. They are our mentors in personal life, akin to the mentors in professional life. So say, ‘Papa, do preach!’