Friday, August 13, 2010

Of Vice and Men

Ganesh Chandra Mondal punches fellow teacher Papri Deb for not wearing sari to work. The TOI headlines scream at you first thing in the morning. You quickly scan through the news article and realize that Ajoy Gayen and headmaster Shyam Sunder Das of Aima Gazankol High School, Howrah, are equally culpable. There are too many issues here that I mean to take up one by one. Let me first draw your attention towards the last names of these creatures (does that ring a bell?) And then focus on their profession- teachers all. This is the result when you politicize EVERY aspect of life and settle for quota rather than quality!

Ganesh Mondal, Ajoy Gayen and Shyam Sunder Das have been entrusted with the sacred responsibility of teaching youngsters and mentoring them to grow up to be worthy citizens of this great country of ours. Little do the parents know that they are paying tuition and development fees for a school that is teaching their 10 year olds to evaluate their teachers on what they wear and NOT on what they teach!  Class 5 students were manipulated by these primitive, vulgar, barbaric men to insult their women teachers and walk out of their classes in protest against their not wearing saris.

Did you, my friend, at 10 think about what your teacher WORE to school and had the courage to express an opinion on it?

Parents, do you send your children to school to learn to ogle at lady teachers and pass comments on their appearance?! Is that why you pay through your noses to educate your beloved children in schools that promise good academic guidance and life skills? Teachers brutalizing students, punching colleagues in full public view, men who are incapable of holding their tempers are pretending to uphold Indian cultural traditions?! Wow! Isn’t that brilliant? Cavemen claiming to be custodians of cultural values- what a joke!

Do you ever wonder why dress code is only enforced on women? Be it the burqa, niqab or sari- why is it that the traditional dress code has to be respected by womenfolk alone? Why don’t we get Shyam Sunder Das, Ajoy Gayen and Ganesh Mondal to come to school in dhoti, uttariya and kharam with their heads shaved and sporting a “tiki”? Also instigate the students to boycott classes if these men don’t show up in the traditional dress of teacher and guru.

If social regression were to be encouraged ensure that it is uniformly executed. In any case these primeval men have nothing else to offer but devious schemes to vent their pent up frustration at being beaten by their betters- the only way to exert their masculinity is to harass women- at home, on the streets and at work.

What makes these men gravitate towards a career that demands the qualities that these men never possessed and did nothing to imbibe? The answer is simple- the ubiquitous quota system that prevails in India. What does it achieve? Votes for the ministers who enforce them, nothing more. It is so easy to get hold of a B.Ed certificate-pay a few hundred rupees to an agent and voila! You have your teacher’s professional certificate. And if you can avail of that quota- ah! sone pe suhaga. The result? Ajoy Gayen and Ganesh Mondal!

The only abiding solution to the spiraling problem of sexual harassment is to enact the law which equates sexual harassment to rape without much ado. Let the law bring the barbaric forces that sully the name of our motherland to book and set such an example that all the kangaroo courts and honor crimes will stop functioning forthwith. The other, less advised option, though, is to let women activists loose on these men armed with razors to shave their heads, pots of curd to pour on their shaven heads and black shoe polish to blacken their faces- and some healthy donkeys to parade them around on will be a definite plus!

1 comment:

  1. These 'gentlemen' should be summarily dismissed and criminal charges should be filed. How do we teach adults to think right?

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