What happened in
our capital city recently is without
doubt very disturbing but didn’t take anyone much by surprise. I want to give you my perception and
experiences about such situations so we understand things better.
Few facts
1. Mobs- Men find strength
and power in a group; the larger the better. It is said that when men are in a
mob they lose all fear . The thought process and behaviour alters drastically.
The crowd becomes a separate entity- a powerful entity. They unite as one
despite all differences. We are aware of
countless terrible incidents when mobs
go on a rampage, provoked or not, with reasoning or without, attacking men, women and children alike.
2. Alcohol- Men
in a mob are bad enough! Drunk men in a mob is something else. Our brains rely on a delicate balance of
chemicals and processes. Alcohol is a depressant, which means it can disrupt
that balance, affecting our thoughts, feelings and actions
3. Opportunities- Men in this state look for the smallest
opportunity to act and when they do, nothing can stop them. Cops nor cctv
cameras. And women become the most coveted and sought after opportunity, which
the men wouldn’t miss for anything.
4. Darkness- Whether its day or night doesn’t matter to a mob. They
take more comfort in the dark because it gives them anonymity and safety. They tend to act more
brutally and fearlessly in darkness.
With
these facts in place, I want to share couple of experiences with a mob that
made me realise how fragile and vulnerable we are.
A few
years ago, a girlfriend and I went on a Kinetic Honda for the Usha Uthup show
held in a hall in one of the main roads of the city at around 6.15 pm. We
parked the scooter on the opposite side of the road and went to the gate with
our passes. But we weren’t allowed inside. There was a small crowd and about 6 armed
policemen there. We came back and got onto our scooter and within seconds we
were surrounded by 50 men in a perfect, tight
circle formation ( there must
have been at least 20 circles and all
this was done telepathically and like they were trained in these formations )
and about 20 hands started groping us from all sides. Luckily, my friend had the presence of mind .She started the
scooter and we flew- over several feet , knocking a few men down and we didn’t stop until we reached our home!
We were in a complete state of shock for multiple reasons! One that this
happened in broad daylight, two- it happened in the main road , three- there
were police men there and nobody cared! Fourth-
No one could do anything even if they wanted to. Fifth and most important- The realisation that
we are vulnerable and helpless . Our
first terrifying brush with the MOB
The
second time was in a music concert that was a fund raiser for the pain and
palliative center of our city. It was mainly sponsored by the Enfield bikers
from UK who were touring India ( They
buy Enfield bikes from India, tour the country and when they leave they sell the
bikes and donate the sale proceeds to deserving causes and our centre was one
of them) Back to the concert- the families were in the upper section and the
men were below. Halfway through the bikers came in ( after all they were the
donors) both men and women. They were standing in the back of the hall. And all
of a sudden, within seconds a large group of men surrounded one woman and started molesting her
( the same perfect circle formation ) We were watching from up totally
horrified and few of the men ran downstairs. But nobody could break through
this; not even the 6 footer bikers. The
music stopped and I think it was with divine intervention, a couple of men
managed to get in and they bodily lifted this woman over their heads and
carried her out! Again MOB power. And we were all watching from above,
helplessly.
Reality
When
there is a mob ( whether sober, drunk, educated, young, old doesn’t matter) ,
there’s very little anyone can do. Whether you are the law or armed or the
President of the country.
Bottom line
We have
to be smart and use our common sense and decide what is safe for us and what we
are in control of. All this funda about gender equality, woman power, lets show
what we are is good on paper, not when you are in a crazed united mob. Its
definitely better to be safe than sorry
