It wasn’t a pleasant journey. She had a lot of emotional baggage to carry, and that wasn’t making it any easier. Even though she wasn’t aware, she was leaving a part of her behind, bit by bit with every step. She was walking alone – not quite sure of her destination. It was a hilly terrain, with valleys and ridges, rivers and forests. She was tired. But she knew she could not give up. She had always been a fighter and that was one of the few things which she could still remember very clearly. Lost in pseudo thoughts, she wandered around, trying to decode what she was doing in this strange place. Her musings grew deeper and deeper with time and before she could realize, she slipped off a huge cliff. Just when she gathered that it was all over, her thoughts clustered around her in a manner that made it all crystal clear.
Unlike her imagination, there were no huge white gates. There were no guards with check-in lists. There was no queue. Her free fall ended and she landed at a place where everything seemed just fine. It was business as usual and thankfully no-one seemed to have noticed her free falling entry. Suddenly, her baggage wasn’t there, except for a little serene package of emotion which remained clinging to her. In her past life, she had lived, loved and lost. In this one, she had all the time to find out the answers. Some questions were just impossible to avoid!
Lost in thought, she heard a female voice, husky with emotion call out her name. She ignored, believing that, no one really knew who she was and the call might be for another Jyoti. But, it wasn’t. The woman came over and introduced herself as Panchali and Jyoti instantly knew she wanted a heart to heart talk. Woman to woman. No intruders, no violations.
Panchali : Hello Jyoti. I don’t really know what to say but still I wanted to see you. When I came to know you were here, I just couldn’t stop myself.
Jyoti : Hello Ma’am. That is so thoughtful of you. I was trying to figure out this place.
Panchali : It is over, my dear. It really is. Now, that you’ve left that horrible place, I wish you’ll soon find the answers to the questions bothering you.
Jyoti : Is that telepathy or what! It is kind of nice that someone understands me.If not in that world, then in this one.
Panchali : I am all yours, my child. I can’t even estimate what you might have gone through. I am sorry that unlike me, you didn’t get a chance to see your culprits dead. That might be the difference between ‘Bharat’ and ‘India’, if at all there is any. But, don’t you worry my dear. We’ll have a live screening of the event in 3-D, whenever it happens. Just like I could see the war of Mahabharata through Vyasa’s eyes, I promise I’ll make sure you see it through your own, whenever it happens.
Jyoti : Oh, I don’t want to see any of their faces again, ever. The more I try to forget, the more permanent those memories become. The anger, the fury just doesn’t go away. I don’t even know if I’ll ever get justice. You had your husbands to fight for you. I have my old father and mother, and young siblings who must be dead by now, in grief. I wish I could erase their pain, a little.
Panchali : The husbands. Yes, those cowards who gave me away. Anyways, lets leave them alone for now. I’ll come to them sometime later. Right now, it is all about you. I am sure Krishna is with your family, blessing them with strength to deal with difficult times and guiding them in their war against evil.
Jyoti : I hope so, too. Though I don’t think I have any faith left.
Panchali : I don’t know if I am allowed to tell you, but I don’t care. You know, just like the war my husbands endowed for me, there is a war going on, for you. Thousands are fighting against all odds, so that you aren’t denied justice. Since the Mahabharata, there hasn’t been a fight so large in magnitude, for violation of a woman. You are modern day Panchali. But at the same time, I am sad and sorry that you had to face much more evil than I did.
Jyoti : I don’t know if that was supposed to cheer me up. But it didn’t. I am not sure if anything will ever change, in this tharki country. The mantra is to worship a million goddesses made of stone, but rape and kill your own women.
Panchali : That reminds me, I heard they blame women for everything, down under. Is that true? In our times, I think it was a little more just.
Jyoti : Sigh. Even though I don’t know what really happened after Dec 16th 2012, I am sure they blamed me. You know what I mean – I was out with a guy-friend, at night for watching a movie and then we took a bus. By now, those politicians, khaps and agents of moral police must have come up with n reasons to justify that it was my fault. The only other thing that might share the blame with me could be chowmein.
Panchali : By that logic, was it my fault that my husbands gave me away in a game of dice and my brother in law tried to violate me in front of the sabha! And Chowmein? Now what the hell is that?
Jyoti : Yes, unfortunately that is exactly how they think it is. Also, you won’t believe that chowmein is nothing but stir-fried-noodles which is a staple in Chinese cuisine.
Panchali : What! Really, what? And I thought Gandhari was being ridiculous when she tied that knot and refused to see the world. Oh Krishna, I can’t believe this!
Jyoti : Unbelievable, is it? You know that is just one of the causes. Others might be girls carrying cell-phones, marriageable age of women to be eighteen and love marriages. We have such enlightened souls and to top it all, we have Rahul Gandhi.
Panchali : Ah cellphones, I ordered one of those. Still waiting for heaven-kart to deliver it. It’ll be fun when it finally arrives. If that little instrument could be a cause of men raping around, next they would say that pigs are flying. This Gandhi kid, what would he take to go back to Italy with his mom? By God, I am fed up of that woman. She doesn’t leave even though her ‘agyaat-vaas‘ in the country is over and everyone knows what she really is. I’ve also heard she has tried to give your family some money, as compensation.
Jyoti : What!!!
Panchali : Yes, my child. I know how it feels. I have cried for you, with you ever since that night. I’ve let my hair lose, once again. I won’t tie them up until the fight is over and you get justice.
Jyoti : In India, justice can only be bought. I don’t mean to de-fame the country, but then I have stopped believing in miracles. I wanted to live, you know.
Panchali : I know sweetheart. See the stars up above? They are a constant reminder to us that there still is hope, even after the sun has set. They are with us, day and night. (And not against us, like some of your foolish people say).
Jyoti : I have always been a fighter. I won’t give up even now. Thank you ma’am for talking to me and help me find my inner peace.
Panchali : As I said, I am all yours. Krishna paved the way, gave me light and strength when I needed it the most. The battle of your survival is over, but another one has already begun. Krishna will guide the way through this one, just like during Mahabharata.
Jyoti : Like you, If only Krishna rescued me as well.
Panchali : If only.
P.S.
I can’t stop thinking about her. I can’t stop writing about her. Even though our media has moved on, our country has moved on, I haven’t. And I refuse to move on until justice is served to brave-heart Jyoti.
Panchali : Hello Jyoti. I don’t really know what to say but still I wanted to see you. When I came to know you were here, I just couldn’t stop myself.
Jyoti : Hello Ma’am. That is so thoughtful of you. I was trying to figure out this place.
Panchali : It is over, my dear. It really is. Now, that you’ve left that horrible place, I wish you’ll soon find the answers to the questions bothering you.
Jyoti : Is that telepathy or what! It is kind of nice that someone understands me.If not in that world, then in this one.
Panchali : I am all yours, my child. I can’t even estimate what you might have gone through. I am sorry that unlike me, you didn’t get a chance to see your culprits dead. That might be the difference between ‘Bharat’ and ‘India’, if at all there is any. But, don’t you worry my dear. We’ll have a live screening of the event in 3-D, whenever it happens. Just like I could see the war of Mahabharata through Vyasa’s eyes, I promise I’ll make sure you see it through your own, whenever it happens.
Jyoti : Oh, I don’t want to see any of their faces again, ever. The more I try to forget, the more permanent those memories become. The anger, the fury just doesn’t go away. I don’t even know if I’ll ever get justice. You had your husbands to fight for you. I have my old father and mother, and young siblings who must be dead by now, in grief. I wish I could erase their pain, a little.
Panchali : The husbands. Yes, those cowards who gave me away. Anyways, lets leave them alone for now. I’ll come to them sometime later. Right now, it is all about you. I am sure Krishna is with your family, blessing them with strength to deal with difficult times and guiding them in their war against evil.
Jyoti : I hope so, too. Though I don’t think I have any faith left.
Panchali : I don’t know if I am allowed to tell you, but I don’t care. You know, just like the war my husbands endowed for me, there is a war going on, for you. Thousands are fighting against all odds, so that you aren’t denied justice. Since the Mahabharata, there hasn’t been a fight so large in magnitude, for violation of a woman. You are modern day Panchali. But at the same time, I am sad and sorry that you had to face much more evil than I did.
Jyoti : I don’t know if that was supposed to cheer me up. But it didn’t. I am not sure if anything will ever change, in this tharki country. The mantra is to worship a million goddesses made of stone, but rape and kill your own women.
Panchali : That reminds me, I heard they blame women for everything, down under. Is that true? In our times, I think it was a little more just.
Jyoti : Sigh. Even though I don’t know what really happened after Dec 16th 2012, I am sure they blamed me. You know what I mean – I was out with a guy-friend, at night for watching a movie and then we took a bus. By now, those politicians, khaps and agents of moral police must have come up with n reasons to justify that it was my fault. The only other thing that might share the blame with me could be chowmein.
Panchali : By that logic, was it my fault that my husbands gave me away in a game of dice and my brother in law tried to violate me in front of the sabha! And Chowmein? Now what the hell is that?
Jyoti : Yes, unfortunately that is exactly how they think it is. Also, you won’t believe that chowmein is nothing but stir-fried-noodles which is a staple in Chinese cuisine.
Panchali : What! Really, what? And I thought Gandhari was being ridiculous when she tied that knot and refused to see the world. Oh Krishna, I can’t believe this!
Jyoti : Unbelievable, is it? You know that is just one of the causes. Others might be girls carrying cell-phones, marriageable age of women to be eighteen and love marriages. We have such enlightened souls and to top it all, we have Rahul Gandhi.
Panchali : Ah cellphones, I ordered one of those. Still waiting for heaven-kart to deliver it. It’ll be fun when it finally arrives. If that little instrument could be a cause of men raping around, next they would say that pigs are flying. This Gandhi kid, what would he take to go back to Italy with his mom? By God, I am fed up of that woman. She doesn’t leave even though her ‘agyaat-vaas‘ in the country is over and everyone knows what she really is. I’ve also heard she has tried to give your family some money, as compensation.
Jyoti : What!!!
Panchali : Yes, my child. I know how it feels. I have cried for you, with you ever since that night. I’ve let my hair lose, once again. I won’t tie them up until the fight is over and you get justice.
Jyoti : In India, justice can only be bought. I don’t mean to de-fame the country, but then I have stopped believing in miracles. I wanted to live, you know.
Panchali : I know sweetheart. See the stars up above? They are a constant reminder to us that there still is hope, even after the sun has set. They are with us, day and night. (And not against us, like some of your foolish people say).
Jyoti : I have always been a fighter. I won’t give up even now. Thank you ma’am for talking to me and help me find my inner peace.
Panchali : As I said, I am all yours. Krishna paved the way, gave me light and strength when I needed it the most. The battle of your survival is over, but another one has already begun. Krishna will guide the way through this one, just like during Mahabharata.
Jyoti : Like you, If only Krishna rescued me as well.
Panchali : If only.
P.S.
I can’t stop thinking about her. I can’t stop writing about her. Even though our media has moved on, our country has moved on, I haven’t. And I refuse to move on until justice is served to brave-heart Jyoti.
Witty yet thought provoking post indeed.
On this note, the pain she'd endured could never be felt by us, not even a part of it. But this must not be the end of the revolt for justice. Timely justice delivery is what we need. Justice delay is justice denied and this denial, god forbids, if happen will be the wrath of wrecking of judiciary.
Hoping for speedy trial and more importantly speedy conviction.
and the people,media,politician will always move on,it wasn't their daughter afterall, and thus its justified as always. P.S – justice always delayed,justice always denied ! 🙁
I was so convinced that things would finally change……. 🙁