'Nirbhaya'

She was about 5 years old, she was lying on a stretcher in the emergency ward of a government hospital in Central Delhi. She was in pain, but was also smiling at me and my lawyer friend. She was bleeding heavily but the Emergency ward was preoccupied with...well! an emergency.

I went out to check with the Investigating Officer as to what was the problem and why was it taking so long for the doctors to attend to her. I found him in a pensive mood, lost in thought about what had happened a few hours ago and also keeping track of all the points that need to be covered within a short span of time, this time, as lawyers would agree, can make or break a case especially a case of rape.

She was gang raped by 4 boys, known to her elder sister, while she was playing outside her jhuggi in the afternoon, she was still in her school uniform and had been lured by the boys on the pretext of giving her something sweet to eat.

To keep her mind occupied, we were cracking silly jokes to which she would laugh, but we had to be careful cause if she laughed too loud she would then wince in pain. I held her hand till she was taken into the operation theatre, while leaving my hand she had a look of fear on her face and she mumbled 'didi....' Outside we spoke with her father and her elder sister. The father, an old man, a rickshaw driver was distraught that this should happen to his youngest daughter.

We waited with her till she was taken in the emergency ward as she had to be operated on. Next day came with all other important aspects to be dealt with, her statement, arrest, medical report, statement of her sisters and others. She was still in the hospital and had been advised complete bed rest. Once she was declared fit, the issue of her 164 statement came up. She had to be trained, but not tutored, it was extremely important that she narrated the important points to the judge recording her statement otherwise it cannot be relied on. At the same time we had to be sure that she is not reciting the incident like she has memorized it...gawd, it was crazy and we did not want her to feel the pressure at all.

We were waiting outside the courtroom, the girl, her father and me, while the IO had gone to the judge to inform her that the witness was here to make her statement. In the judge's chamber no one except for the girl would be allowed to ensure complete reliability of the statement, so she had to be as comfortable as possible while making the statement.

I think the biggest victory was when she came out after making the statement and narrated to us all that she said, then she looked at her father a bit scared as to what his reaction would be, and he hugged her and told everyone around that he is so proud of his daughter and that she had shown so much courage and is a brave one. the girl was so happy to make her father proud of something. Not once was she made to feel like she had done something wrong, especially by her father, some of her sisters were a bit critical of what had happened though.    

The trial did not go very well, since the girl had a very visible squint, the judge felt that she probably is not of sound mind, I cant even being to tell you the problems that I had with this mindset, but we dealt with it. Then came the stage of her evidence in court, by then rape cases were being heard by women judges, so we had a woman presiding officer, who would regularly accuse me of 'interfering' with the trial and try to have me removed from court. (This judge, btw is now in the High Court!) I would insist on sitting in court and pretty much dare her to have me thrown out, all the time waving a copy of the supreme court guidelines which entitled me to be present in court and also do my job.

I had started writing this post around the Delhi rape case and only wanted to highlight that this happens all the time and there are a lot more things that need to be done other than asking for the blood of the accused persons.... in this case the sheer insensitivity of the system was very clear, even though, mind you, the police did a good job and the IO was very sensitive, still the accused were given lighter sentences and no other action was taken.

Life in a fast train

12 years ago when i was living in this city, using the trains for travelling was the most obvious choice and was done regularly. Although the distances that I traveled everyday then, are not even half of what I travel now. I would be careful to not get into a virar fast train during peak hours especially, unless I had to travel that side for an occasional visit. Anyone who has spent more than a week in Mumbai and has been on a local railway station on the western line would know what I am talking about.

Cut to 12 years later, my abode now is in Mira Road, 2nd station from Borivali towards Virar. Even though Mira Road does not have any population residing in the West, (since it is covered by mangroves and salt pans, which till now have been protected) the rush at the station is a totally different story. Since I am a lawyer and I practice law and the High Court in this city is in Fort, I travel to Churchgate every day, which brings me to the means of transport that I use...well ofcourse, the local train, a virar train, the same one that i avoided almost everytime i came across one 12 years ago.

There are 2 kinds of trains, slow and fast. A slow train will stop at every station that comes its way from the starting point to the destination and a fast train has very few pre decided stops. The speed of the train is reflected in the attitude of the passengers. Most women who travel in a slow train regularly are far more relaxed, the general atmosphere in the compartment is chilled out and easy. While in the fast train there is a complete sense of urgency, if you dont move that one inch now, someone else will occupy that precious space and you will most likely stand on one leg for the rest of the journey.

Ok, I am completing this post after starting it about a year ago...! So then it has been more than a year now that I take these trains and has anything changed? Well I can tell you, the feeling in my stomach and the fluttering of the heart is still the same, the moment I see a train coming on the platform that i am suppose to board from. First come the questions.. will i be able to get in to it?? then come the chants... just get into it just get into it! And when the train actually slows down all hell breaks loose! the pushing, the shoving, the shouting and finally the last split second decision of leave it or hang on. I generally leave it, did hang on sometimes and completely hated the near death experience.

But now I have become a little better at boarding a train, more so because I can schedule my life around a 07.47 or an 08.09, or a 08.57 depending on what my day looks like. The best of course is the 10.13..... yes i do take this train sometimes, it is a ladies special fast local. I just cannot get over the smiling faces, soothing voices and courteous behaviour of the women in this train. There is no sense of panic, no mad rush, everyone is ok about reaching their destinations by 11.15. wish all trains were like this.

The journey back home is not so bad, since I board at the starting point, i almost always have a comfortable place to sit (as opposed to the 'fourth seat' which deserves a post of its own!). even then one does tend to schedule life around the 6.33s or the 7.40s etc...