Those Who Are Left Behind
I know what I want to write about.
But I’m not sure what to say about it. However let me try anyway.
By now what happened in my school is well known. Six seniors allegedly molested a junior for a week and violated him. In the process they made him drink alcohol and take drugs. The parents of the child filed an FIR case which made this national news. As I write this there is no clarity to the truth or extent of this incident with many views doing the rounds.
Now all of us are all very proud of our school. It is regarded as one of the best schools of the country and has produced brilliant alumni including diplomats, athletes, business magnates, bestselling authors, members of parliament, international cricketers and others. It is a school that is a badge of honour and a flame of excellence.
And today it is a school that is wounded. This incident has seared our souls and stabbed us deep in our psyches. Why did this happen? Who were the animals who perpetrated this? Or who is manipulating this incident? Are we being told the absolute truth? Or is there more to it that meets the eye? What’s going on? And deep in our hearts is the question – our 100 year old school – for how many years will this drop of blood stain its legacy.
The motto of our school which was ‘Let there be light’ now seemed to be ‘Let there be doubt’ – and all that we can do is stand and watch from the sidelines!
Which led me to a thought. When a crime or a wrong is perpetrated we know what happens to the main players. The victim is outraged and lashes out often publicly. The people who allegedly commit the crime could be declared innocent or could be hung – depending on the verdict of the law.
A murderer who is accused of killing his kin. A rapist who is accused of molesting a fellow office colleague. A wife who hung herself writing a note blaming her husband. All those hundreds of men who were shamed in the #MeToo movement. A man who jumps off the 10th floor because of debt.
We all know what happens to them. Because of the news headlines. The ‘horror’ pages of the newspapers as I call them feed us 10 such stories every day – one more ghastly than the other.
But what happens to the other players? The ones who are left behind. The wife of the man who jumped. The best friend of the girl who hung herself. The sister of the alleged rapist. The neighbours of a spy arrested for treason.
What happens to them? Who cares about them? What are they supposed to do?
They didn’t commit the crime but the same knife that stabbed the victim stabbed them in their hearts. The same rope that strangled the girl is now twisted around their soul. Nothing that they did puts them in their position. Just destiny, karma, or sometimes a twist of fate.
They just have to live with the after effects. They may be outraged, wounded, shamed, shaken, embarrassed or just sad. They were good people living a good life and then something very bad happened that put blood on their sunrise every morning.
Till now I never really gave a thought to these people.
But now I will and I do. Because me and my school friends are the ones who are left behind.
