Disclaimer: No matter how much I feel intrigued by people who're politically incorrect and do controversial stuff... this is something I witnessed and was aghast by it. So, here's what I have to tell you!
So I’ve been on hiatus since really long I know! Blame it on the bazillion things I’ve been busy with! Internships, assignments, MUN conferences (oh I had one of my most memorable and special ones) and then other riff-raff. Who doesn’t have that?
So well, to reiterate, I’ve been busy! :P
But I’m back and I’ve been perturbed about quite a few things since a few weeks. From redundancy of facebook and whatsapp to hypocrisy and what not! I almost decided to become a social recluse. It was like mid-Class 10 and early Class 11 all over again! But well, did not happen. So, what do I come here with?
I just witnessed the cheapest things happening in my college. And they’ve got me utterly upset and disturbed. Let me start from the beginning. We’ve got elections in a few days’ time and campaigning has been going on. So well we had something called an informal confrontation where there are no teachers and well you can ask the ‘real’ questions from the candidates. Real? Whatever that’s supposed to mean.
So I enter the café, that afternoon and I see a large crowd gathered looking at participants. The participants did some extremely cheap things as a part of their dare. If I could exercise my freedom of speech and expression to the fullest, you’d have known and would have probably understood what a shock that was. And that was so wrong that I just walked out. It was just wrong on so many levels that I can’t even begin to explain. News says that one of them cried later.
So, a lot of you might argue that what was happening was fun. A lot of you would probably just say that it was a show and that I could just enjoy. Some of you might not understand why I reacted the way I did even if you agree that what was happening wasn’t good. Honestly, apart from my belief that sexuality is not something that should be so openly discussed and hence I couldn’t be a part of something where I was contributed as an audience, I couldn’t reason with my reaction, either.
But as I couldn’t get over my upset state of mind and thought more and more about what I had witnessed that afternoon, I realized I was aghast at what their idea was of ‘fun’, ‘informal introduction’ and more importantly, ‘campaigning for votes’. And not just that. This is a college where the anthem of ‘Feminism’ is sounded probably the loudest. And if I had seen some random bunch of girls doing this, I wouldn’t have minded all that much. But I just saw girls reduce themselves to mere bodies and do everything that the feminist discourse criticizes. They’re perpetrating what all feminine-kind has been trying to fight and resist universally. And not just ANY group of girls, but girls who’re going to be shouting at the top of their lungs about Feminism and representing what our college is essentially trying to embody, once they get elected. What did they just show me then?
That they’re just a bunch of hypocrites who’d do anything for votes. People who don’t take any ideology too seriously. Do I want to vote for such people? I don’t think so.
Another point here. There were some girls who didn’t agree to what was being asked of them but still did it. Like the girl who ended up crying. My sympathies with them but I still won’t vote for them. Because they’ve shown me how they just broke when they faced peer pressure. So somebody who can be so easily pushed around won’t be able to take a stand and would definitely bow down in front of authority and would just be the teachers’ pet doing as they say and not brining any relief for students who wish for some leeway in this school-like college.
My question to all of them for is: Forget your agenda for college. Tell me what you principals you stand by for yourself.
I’ve been reading Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. And I just recently, a few days back, came across some very powerful lines that I can’t help finding pertinent to this situation.
“I will hold to the principals received by me when I was sane, and not mad- as I am now. Laws and principals are not for times when there is no temptation: they are for moments such as this, when body and soul rise in mutiny against their rigour; stringent are they; inviolate they shall be. If at my individual convenience I might break them, what would be their worth? They have a worth- so I have always believed; and if I cannot believe it now, it is because I am insane- quite insane, with my veins running fire, and my heart beating faster than I count its throbs. Preconceived opinions, forgone determinations are all I have at this hour to stand by; there I plant my foot. ”
These are immensely powerful lines and I was really happy and surprised to see something come up in this book which I have followed so closely myself.
And finally, you might think I’m judging but then one, it’s not so easy to not rule judgments at them for this. Two, I’m not judging them and that’s why even when I find this to be so amoral I am disturbed that I can’t even hold it against them.
What I’ve decided now is that I’m going to abstain from voting entirely. I know that I have no other choice apart from people who were at that confrontation that day. I also know that I can’t vote for such people. Lastly, I know that there’s no way I can prevent them from coming to form the Union; if not one then another will be there. Hence, I’d just stand clear and not contribute to something that I so strongly disapprove of.
No matter how insignificant this may be, I’m going to be satisfied with myself and my decision. I hope my silence has finally been heard and understood if not agreed to.
When I discussed this with a few friends they disapproved of how I wanted to stay away from this politics and how I can’t be apolitical but this is my stand, nevertheless. Please do leave your comments and let me know what you think about it!
