It’s a long, yet an, open and heart-felt statement to all those who love Manipal! The time to say it is now!
I would start by pointing out a few of my experineces…
- When I was walking down the lane with a few of my friends at say eleven, one night, I was really loving it because it was drizzling. Just when I told my friends from outside the city that this is the land of awesomeness; a cheap middle-aged biker tapped a girl on the back and fled the place before even we could realise that he had the guts to do it;
- I saw an MIT fresher with his parents arguing with an auto fellow for a mere five-rupee change and the fellow was extremely rude verbally to the kid and his parents.
- Once when I had gotten down from an auto, I knew I had to pay him twenty bucks as a minimum fare from TC to Syndicate circle, and I paid exactly that and turned to leave. The auto fellow said “fifty” in the coldest tone possible. I was like “what?”. He replied like a proper creep, ” I was about to ask you thirty but seeing that you are escaping and running away, you have to pay me fifty”. I was so agitated yet I asked him patiently, “What do you think the students are, thieves/loafers, to run away without paying you?” He said he’s not going to let me leave without paying him “his” fifty bucks. I really wanted to mobilize my ninety kg body weight through my fist right into his lanky jaw and yet I said “Let’s go to the police station and decide”. He calmly got back into the auto and said ” I’ll see to it how you take another auto rickshaw ever”. It was a threat which I wanted to take head on if I wasn’t an MD student with responsibility then.
- Most of the shop keepers are really cool with customers but when it comes to pricing and quality, some of them really think they can pass without much ado. Take for instance two of the stores in TC, that sell things at exorbitant rate and foul mouth the customer. I’ve heard them saying ” You have to come back to me for this, else go, get lost to Mangalore to get the same you yellow-faced ****” to poor Malaysian students in Hindi.
All these experience make me raise a single question.”How dare you guys bite the hands that feed you?”.
You really can’t fault the University nor the Police in all the situations. What we get is what we’ve allowed them to give us.
It’s the time to show some serious restraint I guess. It’s a boon to have been a Manipalite at some point of time in your life !
What is so great about the town that it will take a lifetime to forget those beautiful memories is its freedom, the joy and the colorful life that you lead where you aren’t culturally answerable to the ruffians in the name of “Moral Policing” from local goons.
And what happened to a student who is an immediate senior to my own students, has goaded me to try and do something effectively with immediate, gradual and consistent effort.
The horror inflicted by the trio is a wake-up call in disguise. The students would now be respected more at least for a few weeks and no auto fellow would dare to be rude. But wait, is this a matter of just weeks? Has the girl not suffered enough to wake us up forever?
I really feel the University is in a fix. Though disgustingly the security flopped, The University would never intentionally let their guard off when it comes to students because they know the students are really their treasure.
I really wish Manipal abolishes the system of auto-rickshaws and start its own equivalent of autos and ply them like the regular ones and even better than them. Let them create such a huge fleet that the precious students do not live at their mercy. Let them have a separate wing for it, let them recruit drivers on their own after proper scrutiny. This would really mean a warning-bell to all the rude businessmen (who depend on students). Manipal in true spirit would be a self-contained island, an international village! Let them know that our finances would really mean that they can’t afford to be formidable because they are not indispensable to the students!
May every student remain on vigil for the violence against women or the men of student community. When you see a fellow student whoever it is being roughed up or talked rudely to or being man-handled, don’t shy away! Stand up for your mate. Talk back. Fight! Shout out for help. Go for help when somebody needs it. Every Manipalite is your brother/sister (contextually). Disrespect to them is disrespect to each one of us. Let them think twice before hurting their original masters – the students. Let the students be respected. Let the students be safe, free and live the life they deserve!
Let the girls wear what they want and walk the road in the dark and alone when they want and wherever they want and with courage. Let me continue to boast to my friends that Manipal indeed is a paradise and let the paradise not be lost because of thugs. The town needs a better view from outside right now. May the girl live at peace and courage with her head held high!
Let the offender lock himself inside and not the Students or the righteous ones!
Let my senses remain addicted to the phenomenon called MANIPAL! Once a Manipalite, Manipalite forever.
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