A Stand
I came back from watching the movie Singham last night at 1:00 a.m. I was moved by the intensity an honourable and rooted person can go to make things correct. That may have been just a film, but it was my inspiration to write this. This movie is a movie all Indians should be proud of and should learn from it. I started writing this 15 minutes after I got home.
The reason I stress this film is because if you have the great power of the media, then why waste it on baseless movies that don't matter. I am not saying that don't make movies for enjoyment, I am just saying make a moving and morally based story, which does not seem like a waste of time. I don't' want to give any examples, I may end up offending people, but I am sure many of you know what I am talking about.
Media is a power you either have or don't have, if you have this power, use it to make change.
I sound like this was the greatest movie in the world and that everything is going to change, no, that is not my message. My message is to promote more realistic movies that can inspire people like me to make a change. Although I may just be a 14 year – old high school teenager, nothing can be greater than acknowledging the issue, whatever it may be, and standing up against it. It could be anything, discrimination, corruption, political issues, or maybe even a simple fight on the street. Taking a stand is what matters, because when someone shuts you up for something you have done correct, you know that it's time to shut them up.
Now, my intention is not to give a boring speech, it is just to show you all that whether you live in India or not, whether you face this stuff or not, whether you are a part of wrong or not, what you shouldn't be doing is watching. Watching in the end will just lead to the same old unfair and political world.
That is why TAKING A STAND is more important than anything.
I Didn't Do Anything.
I watched the man place a wad of cash in his back pocket. I didn't do anything.
I watched the man smoke in a non – smoking area and stuff another wad of cash in the policeman's pocket. I didn't do anything.
I watched the policeman pull out a cigarette and puff on it. I didn't do anything.
I watched a little boy being threatened to be killed for money. I didn't do anything.
I watched the minister smuggle liquor in the back of his van. I didn't do anything.
I watched an army officer slap a woman across the face. I didn't do anything.
I watched a beggar's hand get stomped on because he asked for money. I didn't do anything.
I watched a little kid approach me for change. I didn't do anything.
Then I watched a thug come, abuse me, take my wallet away leaving me wounded on the ground. No one did anything.
- Purely written by Jinil B.
The Coward City Slicker.
Once again I was here, in Goa, India. Many of my business meetings took place here, and so was my vacation home. This time everything felt different. I had the homely feeling, but there was tension in the air. I was pushed aside by a young boy dressed in tapori clothing with a rampuri in his hand. Initially I was shocked, and afraid; what the hell was happening here? No one answered me, because I didn't ask. I just ignored it and walked on about to my house. Being born, raised and brought up in India, the place of the holy pilgrims, I was rooted to my country and its values. I would never back down from protecting it.
As I passed the Pani Puri vendor, I saw the same boy holding an old man by the collar asking for a khokha. I knew this terminology from films, but this was absurd. I walked on, what did it have to do with me anyway?
Then I saw a man drag his wife out of the house, and slap her across her face, and physically torture her with his hands, and a stick. I walked on, what did it have to do with me anyway?
Listening to the conversation from the people behind me I heard them say that the lower cast people all should be killed, they didn't deserve to live. I walked on, what did it have to do with me anyway?
As I came across the teenage girls playing hopscotch on the street, I saw one girl getting kissed by a man twice her age. I could hear her cries even after I walked on, because what did it have to do with me anyway?
When I got home, I saw men trashing and breaking every piece of furniture as my wife desperately tried stopping them. I did nothing. It had to do with me, but I did nothing and neither did anyone else, because it didn't have anything to do with them.
My wife called me a coward city slicker. Then I realized, I was born, raised, and brought up in India, but my values fail me because I do not protect my country if I can't protect its people. I was nothing but a mere coward.
- Jinil B.
Just Doing What I Had To.
The very next day, I went past the Pani Puri vendor again, and touched the old man's feet and offered him one khokha. He denied saying it was immoral, but I told him, "It was immoral of me to just ignore you yesterday; it would be immoral of me not to do anything right now. Please, for my sake, after all you are like my father." The man agreed. I waited till the boy came.
He didn't have the rampuri this time. Instead he came with a gun. I had a present for him as well. The police, as corrupt as they may be, I used my power for this young boy to be sentenced jail, without a bail. Yet, before he left I told him, "You just wasted your life right there. I you would've worked this hard for your studies, maybe today you would be standing in my place." He couldn't care less, he said he had connections and I said I have a heart. I just did what I had to.
Afterwards, I went to the men's shop. The same men who insulted the lower cast. I went bought a bottle of soap. I asked him to wash his mouth with it. He was dumbfounded, and pounced on me like a cat. I stood my ground. Soon enough people from the streets were watching him beat me up. But I stood there like a stone statue. I told him to, "Hit me as much as you want. Beat me as much as you want. But when you get tired, don't expect me to go away. I will make you wash your mouth with soap and say sorry to each and every lower cast person in this crowd." He continued to abuse me. But I stood my ground. Not long after he had apologized, and washed his mouth with soap. I just did what I had to.
The day after, I went back to the young teenaged girl. I asked her about that man. She spoke not a word. I asked her to show me where her parents were. She spoke not a word. I asked her if she was an orphan. She cried hysterically. Then I knew, she was being forced to pleasure. For her to live, she had to give up her inhibitions to a man who needed her body. Then and there, I had decided to adopt this girl. I just did what I had to.
Then, I went home to my wife. She said she was proud. She said she was happy to be the wife of a man. I told her that I was happy to be the husband of a true person. I was glad to be the husband of a woman who knows what to do. She helped me take a stand. My wife is the hand behind me.
I just did what I had to. Hopefully, all of you do it before you are named a coward. Hopefully, all of you know that you need to TAKE A STAND.
- Jinil B.
This was something I just had to pen down. This isn't my usual lovey work, this is reality. The world is not like how books and some movies display it as. The world is cruel, and you just need to open your eyes to it.
Till now I was just a little 14 year – old school girl, but now I have become a bit more mature. I have opened my eyes to the real world. Life is not a fantasy.
I have no motive to bring you out of your perfect little paradise, I just want awareness.
I probably sound like a pushy idiot, but if that's what it is then that is what I am. I am saying go tomorrow and go tell off a corrupt police officer, I am just saying that when the opportunity comes, and you can make a change, don't be a bystander.
In the end, everything is interconnected. If not now, then later you will be affected.
Bollywood
Anupamaa
