There are some topics that trigger off the Argumentative Indian, who still remains argumentative and doesn’t do anything else about it.

Imagine you’re shopping in a store, and suddenly you see an AutoRickshaw stopping over and some guys in it trying to pull in a girl walking on the street. She’s resisting it. What do you do?

Apparently, some people did one thing - nothing. This is in the latest post in Blank Noise Action Heroes blog - here.

Although there’s a lot that the girl underwent (read about her thought process about not going out in a saree for a long time), what’s interesting is the way the ‘lesson learnt’ part comes about. The post says “It was a big lesson learnt that people don’t have the time to help other people and it is up to you to take care of yourself!”

Of course, we all know, it’s not about the bloody time, but the attitude. You have to help yourself - yes. And you can easily predict that the proud urban Indian who becomes a sher when cheering vigorously for India in a cricket stadium will not raise even the meekest voice when such a thing happens in front of you on the street. OK - that was over generalization. But hey, what the heck? The people in that Auto wouldn’t have tried the vagaries on a street had they expected the passers by to raise alarm, if not rush to help the lady. But the general public always rises to the occasion to ensure the confidence in their inabilities is upheld.

And no, it’s not a law-and-order problem, although that may be a contributing factor. You are a part of this society, and you must help the situation by virtue of being this part, if not anything else. Projects like Blank Noise are helping to wake people to this realization, but it will require a transition to the next generation at this pace to achieve a mass-attitude change (I am optimistic that it will happen). Until then, yeah, keep your expectations from society to zero and learn to take care of yourself. Any incoming help is a bonus.

What does this post achieve - again, one thing - nothing.