Responding to imbecility

Sometimes, Pune exposes me to very nuanced imbecility.

 

Where people actually believe and say things like "Rape is a Delhi problem. Thank God we're not there."

 

Now, here is why a 'Delhi problem' should matter to us - the lucky few who live in the cultured, hallowed lanes of Pune (even if we have come from the corrupted cesspool of Mumbai. The hope is that with time in this virginal city of culture, poetry, and literature, one will be transformed.) Anyway, here's why we should care about a 'Delhi problem'. New Delhi is the capital of India. (Seriously, I'm not joking. It's not Koregaon Park. Who knew, right?!) If this were war, if we were fighting an enemy, if the enemy captured Delhi, then it means they, in effect, capture India. So, if rape is a Delhi problem and nothing gets done there, the likelihood of any solid legislative change or social reform or political will or judicial activism transforming into anything meaningful anywhere else is bleak. Or like Shobha De says in one of her posts, "When Delhi gets raped, India gets raped." So even if rape is a Delhi problem, it affects you and me and anyone in this country D-I-R-E-C-T-L-Y.