This has never been more important
We've probably all read about the horrifying interview with the Delhi rapists and their lawyers in the news in the last few weeks, and no doubt gasped in outrage, genuinely aghast at their abhorrent words. Then we've moved on down the facebook feed and laughed at a video of penguins on a slide.
It's easy to assume that events unfolding elsewhere on the planet do not affect us. The truth is that they do.
As Leslee Udwin, the journalist who spoke to one of the convicted rapists, put it in this interview, "these men are not the disease, they are the symptoms"...."Gender-inequality is the primary tumour and rape, trafficking, child marriage, female foeticide, honour killings and so on, are the metastases."..."Until and unless the mindset changes, the cancer will thrive and continue to spread."
We cannot bury our heads in the sand. Change will not be quick, but it is necessary. And it is possible. As Udwin points out, "what had inspired me in the first place (was) the new-thinkers, especially among the youth, in India who want change and are clamouring for it."
Education is the way forward. Every child, regardless of gender, caste, colour or creed, has the right to learn, to develop into a well-informed and enlightened individual, ready to make his or her positive contribution to the future of this emerging nation, and to the future of the world.
Local projects such as The Yoga Mission, where all the profits go directly to benefit the children, are one of the most effective ways to help. Read about the Yoga Mission's wonderful work here. We can help them shape India for the better, one child at a time.
Donate at www.justgiving.com/tararuns8in8
or text ARAT88 £5 to 70070.
