It’s so sad, it’s funny.

No I am not being frivolous. I am just being honest. The latest Delhi gang rape is tragic. And so was the one before that. And the one before that. And the one before. And every time there has been a case – registered and publicized, there is a hue and cry about it. The hue subsides, the cries remain. And why? Because every time a woman gets fondled on the bus, eve-teased on the road or hit upon in a bar – the response is ‘Yaar ignore kar’. I have been reading a lot of advice by people – experts and others – who say that parents should teach their sons to respect women. But what about their daughters? Shouldn't they be taught to stand up for themselves? Shouldn't they be told to respect themselves? To live without fear? Be cautious, yes. But also dare to live fearlessly. Wear what they want. Speak their mind. Live the way they want. Taught to face up to the men who think they should be raped because the smoke, drink, wear short clothes, have sex, love or just simply because they have a vagina. I am not proffering a solution here. I don’t know if there is one. But yes, as a woman I do demand the right to live without fear. I desire to tell the MP who said that a woman raped is a living corpse is incorrect - that woman is a living woman. She is the one who will fight for justice. She will get the respect she deserves. She will have a family. Be loved. Be treasured. Because she will be part of a community that will not teach its daughters to live in fear and ignore daily humiliations. She will be part of a country that teaches its daughters to live. Just live.