People are expressing surprise that a girl was stabbed to death by a twenty-year old youth in Delhi on a busy lane and nobody cared to intervene. A lot of outrage is being expressed from all sections of political opinion. But, why the surprise? This is the culture of big city existence – people have to ignore even their immediate surroundings merely to get on with their lives. Quarrels, arguments, anti-social activity, accidents, etc., happen on regular basis and are overlooked. Habituated in this way, the sudden occurrence that leads to the death of an innocent victim does not trigger an immediate response. Even as they think – should I, should I not? – they have gone past. Others doing nothing also persuades them to believe it is none of their business.
Actually, in modern city life, those who poke their nose in other people’s affairs are considered ‘anti-social’, imposing ‘archaic’ value systems on those exercising their ‘freedoms’. So, behaviour that one may feel could lead to a dangerous outcome is required to be tolerated. And, yet, somehow, people are required to instinctively respond when something untoward does take place.
And, it is not just that. Even when one wishes to intervene, one needs to know how. In the tightly focused urban existence, ordinary people do not have the training required to control an enraged man wielding a knife or sword. The victim would be lucky if an ex-serviceman or cop is in the vicinity. Just as organisations try and train people on how to revive those suffering heart-attacks or provide first-aid to the injured, there are skills required – physical as well as psychological – to manage such events. The RSS, for example, trains its members to take on social responsibility, and learn the skills to handle attackers but, for this, it is considered anti-social and worthy of being banned.
In the old days, neighbourhoods had their own social norms which were managed, even enforced, by each of the members. These were designed to protect women, the elders, homes and daily activities. But such close communities are rare in the big cities. City life is attractive to many because of the anonymity it provides, as also the freedom to choose a way of life. Unfortunately, it also involves dangers. Even that way of life requires skills – for instance, the ability to recognise a toxic relationship and how to get out of it. As the frequent incidents show, women of all levels of society are the ones falling prey.
