Women: Is India Dangerous?

Apparently there has been a recent poll of the most dangerous countries for women and India was one of them. Mostly it was because of human trafficking and female infanticide.

What the hell is going on?

In my mind India is one of the greatest countries around.  I may be biased, I am Indian after all, but I was born in the USA.  The reasons I think India is so awesome is because it's a country where people are down to earth and spiritual and real.  Where people have a different sense of a work ethic and they value life differently than we do, maybe more than we do.

Having said all that, this new statistic saddens me...

I thought India was a progressive country.  I thought we were getting somewhere.  India is in the same category as Afghanistan?  I don't mean any disrespect to Afghanistan, but I can't believe that my country is plagued with these disgusting problems.   I was born in America, but some of my head still lives in India.  I might be an American, but I'm also Indian.  I identify with this country, I identify with these people.  How can they let this continue?

I don't really understand how Indian government works, but from this I can gather that women's and human rights is not at the top of their priority list.

Forty percent of the prostitutes in India are children.  That's almost half.  I'm so disgusted I don't know what to do except rant.  Rant and rave.

I don't care anymore that India is soooo fucking advanced that it has a nuclear bomb and more IT graduates than it knows what to do with.  I mean, in this area, the area of women's rights, India sucks.

I hate to say it, in public, because all around India doesn't really suck.  It's like the most beautiful country in the world.  So how is it that this land can mix beauty and blasphemy altogether?

I know, most of you saw Slum Dog Millionaire, and maybe you gathered that all Indians come from a very difficult past filled with dirt, and basically shit.  The truth is that India is full of culture, spirituality, delicious food and I could go on for days trying to prove that we are not just a human trafficking factory.  My parents grew up their and lived very nice lives.

But the truth is, in terms of the way women and children are treated, India has a long way to go.  I'm sad to say this.  It's really sad.  I mean I guess I was mad at first, but now I'm just sad.

I know I'm not the only one that is outraged, that this country that educated the women in my family, my mother is a doctor for godsakes, could forsake it's women so easily.  There is such a huge lifestyle difference between the educated and the poor and the middle class and the poor, it's outrageous actually.

My parents were shocked when they saw Slum Dog Millionaire, they couldn't believe that anyone would show India in such a dark, well a dark light.

There is a lot of darkness in India, the prostitution, the child abuse, but there is also a light that I cannot explain.  As a woman, a lot of spiritual ideals in India claim that women have a higher spiritual capacity then men.  This may or may not be true, but I like that I come from a place that considers this.  I like that India is a country where there are female gods that are revered.

Sometimes I think India is a lot like me, I take step forward then I take two steps back.  I forgive myself for this stupid way of walking.  I am trying to forgive India for not being the homeland that I dream it to be.  But if India is anything like me, it's striving to be better.

nina