Me too.

Reached Mumbai. Lost 2000 bucks. Wondering what to do. Depressed. Got back room. Opened Facebook. All what I see is \’Me too\’. Not from one or two, not from just Facebook friends but from close friends, best friends, good friends and from dozens of them. Wow, the world is going somewhere.

I\’m sure all my Malayali readers must have seen the film \’Kali.\’ In the film there is a scene where Soubin Sahir keeps poking Dulquar Salmaan – the short tempered protagonist – all the time. All it took was one slap from DQ to stop that. We watched this in the theater, we laughed it off because, of course, the scene was hilarious. Add to that, it was Soubin Sahir! His reactions are enough to crack you up. Now that you remember the scene, replace DQ with you; it doesnt matter whether you are a boy or a girl. Just replace. How does it feel? Im sure I would have reacted the same way.

Sadly, its not just the girls who face sexual abusing. We, guys, face it too. I have faced it long back when I was in 7th or 8th. It was after my final exams, I was waiting outside the gigantic St.Thomas Schools\’ gate for my dad to come, pick me up. It was then a Private van driver cornered me to the wall and started rubbing my genitals. I kind of freaked out at first but then I didn\’t what exactly was he doing. I tried to move away but he held me quite tight. Then I heard a \’plaak\’ sound. It was the Bakery uncle who slapped the driver away. I was terrified. I couldn\’t understand what was going on. It took me four years – thanks to the introduction of Orkut – to understand that I was sexually assaulted! Years later, in 2015, I believe, I was going to Coimbatore in a Volvo bus. I think when the bus passed Thrissur or so, a girl came and sat next to me. I was dead asleep and didn\’t know it until I felt something poking my inner thighs. She, I repeat, SHE, had her hands close to mine! I quietly turned to the left side and slept. Now, you pervertic guys wouldn\’t believe this. But I felt assaulted. Just like how we cannot touch a girl, a girl cannot touch a guy as well.

There is a moment in life where I kind of regret of not being able to respond. I was a thin, useless guy back then. Not that I have put on weight now, but definitely put up some guts. So I was with my best friend at the Chennai Beach railway station waiting for our train to Light House. We had an Onam recording at All India Radio and the entire team went from college. We decided to go by our own since its just a matter of two trains. Yes, two trains are better than a certain Chennai traffic. So, we were waiting there. I think she was wearing a skirt. We were standing and chit chatting (bitching) about college people and suddenly she asked me to stand on her left. I wondered why. So there was this old guy – probably in his late 50s or early 60s – staring right down at her legs and licking his lips. When I went to the left side, he calmly moved to the right and continued his job. Okay, a word about my then best friend. She reacts. She really reacts. I didn\’t want her to react since it was a public place and I was scared. So I kind of tried to talk her into a different topic. But this guy was licking his lips again. I moved back to the right side. He now stood straight opposite and started staring. I stood in between. Train came. We ran in and took seats. He came and sat opposite. She stood up and paced away angrily. I followed her. Yes, I should have slapped him. But I was scared. Although we laughed it off later, it got me thinking. What is it in a woman? 

Yes, all guys – including me – do ogle at girls. Girls ogle at guys too, don\’t say no! But there is a limit. You just cannot use a random girl for your pleasure. They need to be respected. When they say no, its a NO.

Quoting the words from a \’Me too\’ post I saw, \’If all the people who have been sexually harassed or assaulted wrote \”Me too.\” as a status, we might give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem.\’ 

My point, its not like people doesn\’t know the magnitude of the problem. Majority does know but nobody cares. They just keep on with their lives. Even if this happens to any of their relatives, they will do this to another person. I still don\’t know the pleasure a guy or a girl gets by touching the extra flesh of a random person. 

Ps : I am not a Pseudo feminist. I believe in Gender Equality and respecting human beings – irrespective of their gender.