A Time for Change

In today's world, there happens to be so much negativity around you; to the point where you start questioning if we are deserving of being called humans anymore, owing to the sheer lack of humanity. True, things are not so simple or rosy anymore, but then maybe it never was, maybe it was just that media was incapable of the penetration back then as it is now. It cannot be denied that the environment seems no longer to be as safe as we had always imagined it to be. We can crib, talk, argue and sulk all day about it, or maybe we can try and do something about it. 

People often argue “We are too small a fish in the ocean“, “Our impact is negligible in this vast environment", “How does it matter what we do, we will hardly dent the bigger picture“. The funny bit is they have never realized that if a 1000 such small dents exist, combined it is actually a big crater. There is only the illusion of being powerless, when the reality is different. The thing to think about is that the number of victims is far superior to the oppressors. 

A simple example would be an elephant chained in the leg to a small piece of wood hammered into the ground. Is an animal as mighty as in elephant actually physically incapable of pulling a puny wedge from the ground? It's the illusion of power that keeps the animal from trying to escape. Similarly, if you stood up as one against these so-called bad elements, corrupt and inhumane people, can you not overpower them? 

It does not mean you have to take up arms or vigilante justice or build up a hero/superhero complex. What is needed is something that can be achieved if tried with an honest effort. You don't need to go out there with sticks and pitchforks and fight (literally/physically) for justice. There are many other ways issues can be solved. 

If you think this is easier said than done, then look up the violent past of places like Scotland and how then ingeniously worked towards making it a safe place to be. They actually went ahead and executed things we only discuss or talk about. Of course, taking into account the difference in the population, it wont be as easy and will require customizations/modifications, but if are up to the task, there is no dearth to the available manpower. 

Corruption, Violence against women & children and apathy towards fellow humans happen to be our deepest rooted issues. Partially because of either vested interests and partially out of our inability to partake. Can't we take simple steps towards trying to fix this? Governments or official authorities can only do things in limited capacities, the primary change needs to come from us. 

Population
While the Governments try to have camps, advertisements, promotions, we need to stop hiding behind a cultural umbrella and come out to the shadows to talk about safe sex and family planning. Sex is natural and biological, it not a taboo subject to avoid. Talking to our children about the need for condoms and planning a family instead of planning accidents. Not just our children, but workers & maids. 

In today's expensive and busy world it is not easy to raise children and you should not have children if you can't raise and/or educate them. This is one of the major reasons of problems in our country. We have more people than we can manage and a lot of them unplanned due to missing sex education and contraceptives. 

Co-Education 
Gone are the days when boys and girls needed to be kept separate. With easy access to the internet and heavy western influence, it is all the more reason that co-education between the sexes is encouraged at a young age. Growing up together, being around the opposite sex and the ability to communicate easily actually makes you look at them as humans and not objects of desire and sex which they otherwise learn from exposure to movies and porn. The farther you keep them apart, the more difficult the interaction, the understanding, the higher the chances of sexual crimes.

Teaching the Boys
As much as our culture is rich, it has a major issue with male worship and power forbearance. Owing to this, women have been always portrayed as a weaker sex and men, the kings. While western civilizations accepted this folly and corrected ages back (to a large extent of course, bias still exists) we are living in denial and reluctant to offer equal control. It is changing of course, but not as fast as it should. We need to teach our boys to respect all humans equally, that men are not superior to women and women are living beings like them not objects of desire. This is something we need to promote seriously.

Employment
Now while this is something we cannot do directly, we need to be able to stand up and question the authorities. Can we not question where the money is being used? If it is being used to boost business, generate employment of taking away the frustration from the youth and making them constructive instead of destructive. This what you are paying taxes for isn't it? If you pay money at a store or mall or a website and the product is faulty, do you just keep quiet? or do you ask for it to be fixed and an explanation? Then why do you keep quiet when you pay so much in taxes and do not question the services you have bought?

Think about it? and think about it hard. We can and we will make a difference. A small step from you a big step for us humankind.