A Jaded Happiness

Can you be happy and jaded at the same time?

I have stopped reading the newspapers these days. Instead of finding something inspirational, innovational and empowering, the front page is filled with murder, rape, terrorism, corruption, inflation etc. None of which I want to expose myself to first thing in the morning.

However you cannot escape Social Media! And that’s exactly what happened to me couple of says back.

A case that gripped the nation’s attention much before the ‘Delhi Rape Case’ was the ‘Aarushi Talwar Case’. A 15 year old murdered in her room, with her parents sleeping unaware just a few hundred feet away. Or as proven by the verdict given yesterday, murdered by her very own parents. This case has driven all of us mad, first because of the inefficiency of the police, then the crude insinuation of an affair between the child and the cook and lastly the blatant accusation of murder filed against her parents. It is like an emotional seesaw where the victim, her family, the judicial system and society at whole have been dragged into the mud constantly.

Now I’m not saying I believe that the parents are not guilty, nor am I saying that they’re guilty. But as quoted from an article by Sree Paradkar in the The Star- 

“Four-and-a-half years, one state police force, two federal investigative teams, two sets of suspects, five arrests and countless fumbles later, the murder remains unsolved.”

It’s a very powerful statement made and one that holds true. We are looking at the whole case as a ‘single story’, a flat perspective where we have already passed our judgments without looking at ALL the facts! There is something called ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ in law, which means that unless the prosecutor and the police prove it to me that the Talwars are the one ones who killed their daughter, I’ll be undecided in their guilt. I can poke holes in the entire case of the prosecution while sitting at the dining table with a cup of coffee. What does that say of our justice system?

All of these cases and stories seem to have jaded me towards the society I live in. How can I be happy when I don’t feel safe in the first place? Yes, I do find pleasure in the small joys of life, but when I have to constantly look over my shoulder the effect of that happiness gets snuffed in half. When you ignore the eve teasers you are deemed a coward, when you complain against them you are deemed to have instigated them. We women can never win in this patriarchal and misogynistic society. No matter the achievements I make, I will only be to enjoy a jaded happiness.