In a vegetative state for 42 years :: Aruna : Dying twice
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: May 20 2015 -

You only die twice. Perhaps this will aptly describe the life of Aruna Shanbaug who passed away on May 18 at King Edward Memorial Hospital, Mumbai.

66 years old when Aruna passed away from this world, but more than likely she passed away after she was physically ravaged, assaulted and raped on November 27, 1973.

Only 24 years old then, Aruna had to spend the rest of her life in a vegetative state at the ICU of the said hospital on life support.

Tough to say whether Aruna really died on May 18, 2015 or on November 27, 1973.

And this is where the observation that she did not exactly live for another 42 years gains credence. That was the life of Aruna Shanbaug.

Latest report says that the attacker, Sohanlal Bhartha Walmiki is suffering from a dangerous ailment but this should not be any comfort.

Not for anyone who have a modicum of conscience.

42 years is a long, long time and the present generation will obviously have no idea of the India back in 1973.

Perhaps the only common thread that runs through the India of 1973 and the India of 2015 may be the mindset, a mindset which says that women can be and should be treated as nothing more than commodities.

The Nation and mankind may cringe in revulsion at the thought of what happened 42 years back, but there is nothing much to suggest that things have changed for the better.

Remember Nirbhaya in 2012. Even today, women continue to be at the receiving end and the disturbing point is no one seems to have learnt any lesson.

India is the land of Durga and countless other Goddesses but at the other end of the reality is the menace of dowry deaths.

Rape is definitely extreme, but how many have actually considered the point that rape rests to a large extent on the culturally accepted practise of eve teasing ?

Women may be placed on a pedestal and even worshipped but how many families actually welcome the birth of a daughter ?

How con one explain the practise of female foeticide ?

How does one reconcile the extreme opposites ? Will education help ?

It may but education should be understood beyond what is taught within the confines of a classroom. It is more than patriarchy.

In short it is a sick mindset, a train of thought which says that women can be subjected to all sorts of humiliation.

Laws may be passed and enacted but the education to respect women should start from the homes.

Has anyone given a thought to this ?

The pain and trauma that Aruna was subjected to was a clear reflection of where women stand in the society and this is a matter of shame and concern.

Time for all, parents, youngsters and the leaders of the land to stand up and do something to educate the mindset of all males.