Its red…its supposed to be thicker than water…it comes in various groups…some of them commonly available…some rare…it has many connotations…some have it in good health but couldn’t care less about it…some need to have it transfused to survive and realise the worth of every drop…yet when it comes to revenge, violence, punishment, it is the first thing to be spilled. Yes I am talking about Blood, which seems to have become so cheap that anybody and everybody is playing Holi with it.
What’s wrong with us? Why have we become so savage? Imagine cutting a dead body in 300 pieces. Wow. I am surprised Maria and Mathew didn’t marinade and barbeque them – grilled Neeraj Grover. They could as well have been cannibals. Arushi Talwar – what was her crime? That she knew about her dad’s illicit affair. So now it is dangerous to even have information. Or maybe it is dangerous to be a child ‘coz you never know when your own parents could turn against you.
Crazy…ridiculous…maddening…why why why? How did we become this way? Why are we so blood thirsty? Where is the difference between carnivores and us? Are we becoming vampires? During our growing up years, we often heard our teachers or parents say “I’ll draw your blood if you don’t behave, etc.” It meant a few canings which definitely would have resulted in some blood red marks. We grew up to heroes mouthing dialogues like “main tera khoon pee jaoonga”. We have idioms like ‘khoon ke badle khoon’, ‘khoon ki holi khelna’, etc. Why even the legendary Draupadi was said to have told Bhim that the only way to restore her honour would be to colour her hair with Dusshashan’s blood. But does that mean that in the 21st century we take it all so literally?
I read a quote in today’s paper that said, “a civilised society is one which tolerates eccentricity to the point of doubtful sanity”. I think this is a mirror of the way things are currently. For every two steps we take towards prosperity, we seem to be regressing 100 steps. How many Neerajs, Arushis, Rizwanurs and others like them will have to be sacrificed at the alter before we realise our follies? Don’t all religions say the same thing that only He or She who brought us into this world has the right to take us away from it? Who are we to send people to their graves or pyres under the pretext of honour killings, jealousy, unstable minds, uncontrollable emotions and all the bullcrap that is doled out as defence?
But there is always light at the end of the tunnel. Arushi’s friends are holding a candle light vigil for her demanding justice. Hope they remain undeterred even when sprayed with tear gas or showered with lathis.
As Abraham Lincoln said, “the probability that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.”
no shades of grey 
