| Penny for your conscience? Don’t just stand by. Stand up against violence in public spaces From high-browed philosophers to raging news channel debates, the question of conscience is as old as time. Despite this, we have come to lock away our sense of ethics like our grandmother’s silver cutlery, to admire and fuss about from afar. But come close, and it’s all rust. In saying so, my purpose is not to preach. As journalists, we are taught to compartmentalise even the most shocking news that breaks in like clockwork. But being a citizen, I hope when violence against women (or anyone, as a matter of fact) is committed in broad daylight, we can find it in ourselves to reconfigure our ways. Recently, I was taken aback by the chilling incident in Vasai, Mumbai, where a jilted lover attacked his ex-girlfriend with an iron wrench, till she died on the spot. But more unnervingly, the passersby stood and watched, as if they were witnessing a film shoot. Unfortunately, this is not a one-off event. Among countless other incidents, last year, a 16-year-old girl was stabbed in full public view by a 20-year-old man in Shahbad dairy, Delhi. The CCTV recording showed how almost 16 people passed by, as this ghastly incident was happening, but no one came forward to help. According to some of my psychologist friends, this phenomenon is very aptly dubbed as the ‘bystander phenomenon’ (This isn't good news, because surely, enough incidents like these must've happened on record for such a scientific term to exist). Talking about the phenomenon, my friends elaborated on how it occurs when the presence of others discourages an individual from intervening in an emergency, against a bully, or during an assault or other crime. Before we go ‘Oh that makes sense’ and call it a day, let’s remember that the bystander phenomenon is only acceptable when a teacher puts out an open question during a 9am lecture on a Monday. In that situation, it might still be okay for the sharper knives of the classroom to save the backbenchers from the onslaught of questions. But beyond that, I firmly believe that it should be deemed unacceptable. Furthermore, I don’t necessarily believe in the rhetoric that states that you should care, simply because it can happen to you (or your family members) too. Because when it comes to humanity, I like to believe that it is more than some neurons firing in our heads. Take the example of Siju David, the inspiration behind this year’s sleeper hit Manjummal Boys. David, a 2008 Jeevan Raksha Padak winner from Kerala, went into the very bowels of earth and saved his friend Subhash, after he tripped over and fell into a 300ft deep crevice in Guna Caves (also dubbed as Devil’s Kitchen), Kodaikanal. Bringing him back from the clutches of death, after the state police and even the locals declared Subhash as good as dead, David certainly did not waste any time in reasoning and calculation. What logic can possibly prepare anyone to descend into a narrow endless pit? And so, one can safely argue, that saving someone’s life is not philosophical, it is human. |
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