Are you sure boys are safe

This is not some happy shit as I generally write,
not a poem that I happily cherish in telling my loved ones.
This is something that a number of people have undergone but not all are able to recover.
For some these traumas have left a scathing mark,
some have somehow able to overcome and still are haunted by those nightmares and still there are millions all over the world who daily undergo these tortures.

Yes, I am talking about molestation,infact sexual molestation or to be more precise child abuse.

This event dates back at a time when I was reasonably big,big enough to understand worldly ways but still small not to understand the evils that lurked in the corners..
big enough to speak as a seasoned eloquent speaker at inter college debates but still small to not get frightened at the first sign of fright.......
This happened after the end of my second year of my college(Engineering to be precise).
Like,all of the ambitious aspiring intelligent students I too had this dream of havi g an MBA from IIM.
And for this I had been damn serious,a seriousness that was present but in scant proportions otherwise.
So, as I said I was putting in a lot of effort to cut through CAT for the 'creme-de-la-creme' .
I used to go to a premier coaching institue which was some twenty kms away,after my college hours.And in this process I usually ended up returning late as it took a little more time in winding up my GD-PI sessions.

So, here I was like all other days,after another session at the coaching institute.I stood at the signal anxiously waiting for a vehicle so as to reach back to my hostel.It was not too late 9:00 pm to be precise.But,the place(Udaipur) had little conveyance that took me to my hostel(Dabok),which was situated at the outskirts of the city.
There was not much of a traffic on that day.The night had little traffic except a few trucks and some cars.And I never feared the calm,being a brave boy.
BRAVE I assumed because a lad who has seen 2 years of college as a hostel dweller has enough of his share of fights and I know because there had been instances in my college where I had spearheaded a few agitations.So,as such I was quite sure of myself but still I was cautious.

And then while I was waiting for a vehicle an old man appeared on his cranky moped.

And you know how affably youth like me respond to the concerns of the old.Because,we are always told that it is the gentlemen who are always responsive to the kids,ladies,the OLD and the needy.And I always wanted to be a gentleman.

And this man seemed peculiarly old,the kind of old who would fall at a little pushing,who would smile and tell caring grandpa stories,who would fight for the happiness of kids,who seemed to be badly treated at home.One whom I would be ready to help at the moment he would ask me to.

So,this man came to me on his two wheeler,a moped(which I was quite unsure how a man of such gait was driving).
He came and with an added smile asked me :-बेटा,सेवाश्रम चौक कहा है।
{son where is Sevashram Chowk(A signal crossing)?}
I told him the route.And then the so called 'old man' asked me to guide him by being his pillion to that very place.Now,since I had to go the same way and I was not at all afraid of him and moreover I am always happy to help.
So,I hitched on his backseat guiding him till his destination.
It was some 10 minutes ride but the speed with which he drove made me feel as an eternity.
I thought that it was so because he was old but figured out the reasons a bit later.
While driving he started talking to me on a very friendly note,about studies,about college.
But then things started to become nasty.He started inquiring about things that even boys generally don't discuss with their friends.The moment I felt that something was goin astray I gently snubbed him thinking that he said so by mistake(not to agree to the fact myself that he was trying to talk cheap)or probably since the vehicle was moving so I couldn't quiet understand what he said.
But then his hand started to move in unwanted proportions.He put his hand on my thigh while driving.I took his hand away the first time thinking that he wanted to have support.
But then it came again and again.And then I told him to stop the moped.He din't, saying that the stop was just a few meters away.I shouted back to stop.By the time this was some crossing that we had reached.I got down at the side.And he got down even faster than me.
And in his final bid he tried to say thank you by extending a handshake.But his hand wasn't moving towards my hand.I intervened him in between with my hand.I was dumbstruck by the force with which he was pushing.It seemed quite impossible that a man of his built had such power.I saw some truck drivers by road side.I knew I couldn't shout because nobody would listen to a robust teenager's molestation story as compared to some sad sorry saga of a "frail old man."
Moreover I was utterly horrified that how could an old man do so.I was still recuperating from the fact that how could a man looking so fragile talk such a vulgar language.
But I had to do something.I just stopped his advancing hand in between but still I could feel the concrete fathoming pressure which was supplied to him by his evil.
"And then I twisted his hand.Asked him to better mind."And started to walk fast so as to avoid any more danger.And after I croosed the road I saw him turn back his vehicle and move to the same place from where we started.It seemed absurd because I told him that his destination was the opposite wayAnd then the gravity struck that this man might be doing this daily,trapping unassuming innocent young kids in his heinous deeds.I felt completly insecure.
Saw the truck drivers and thought that even these seemingly dangerous men were better than that evil old man.Somehow I managed to catch a bus back home.Told my fellow hostel mates the day's incident and was surprised to see that I was not alone a victim of this crime.Most of my friends had one of these horrifying experiences since childhood.Some faced it while travelling intercity in buses,some saw the same torture from their relatives while some from their seniors,neighbors and know not what.It has been 3 years since that incident.I thought at that time to report to the police,to take this issue to the newspapers as I felt that there would be thousands of children like me who become victims of such intentions.
Pedophiles like the old man are still roaming the streets openly.I have somehow luckily left unscathed from this attack and have found the powerful medium of blog to tell my story so as to spread awareness and save atleast a few like me.Its just a request by me to be receptive towards young children.Might be that they are going through the same trauma in magnanimous proportions.Boys being the bigger target as even their voice is not given much privilege as compared to girls.But still we have to do something to atleast save a few children from this dastardly act.Let's stand together against this evil.
"And I know that even as you are reading this there would be some old man prowling the streets asking an unassuming young boy about the address of a destination that he might have travelled a thousand times just to molest him."

HARSHA

I learnt

The best things of life aren't learnt in the classrooms,or at religious places,universities,internet

rather these things can be found at even the smallest corner of an alley,a deep crowded road,a wayward slum or even in a million dollar suite(Sounds as if inspired na).........

The only requisite being dat u need not try to learn,needn't try to force yourself,just let yourself serenade,move with the wind and all would be yours and you would be of all...

So,sit back and relax coz now I am about to let you peek into the portal of my learnings

or better my opening up......

TOWARDS KNOWLEDGE..

So,ahoy we go(ALL ON BOARD)

Single line,Stay with me(Gladiator)

My learnings

How and when,I don't know.
And why is the biggest question that I guess I would be ever able to answer.
But,here this question is itself an answer to the thousand of myriad blues that I have ever felt.
This is not about me but about all of us who seek to know the answers.

This space is the dictum to all my worldly woes...
To all my unanswered problems...........
To all my dilemmas......
Frustrations...........
Insights..........
What I have learnt from the world or let me put it this way: what I am going to teach....