Be the change you want to see in the world - and then what??

Yesterday(Mar 2, 2014) was the start of the 2nd season of Satyamev Jayate - the popular talk show hosted by Aamir Khan. It took the country by a storm when it first aired in 2012 and it's no surprise that it touched me as well. If you live in India, there's a good chance you watched the show and know the topic of yesterday's show - how does India treat rape and it's victims. Not the topic that I was hoping to mull over on a Sunday but this post is not more about the topic. It is rather about something that Aamir chose to conclude the show with - pearls of wisdom which usually would have had me nodding my head in agreement - somehow this time it wasn't to be so. He aptly said that the show had talked a lot about what was wrong with the government, the judiciary, etc. but it was with each one of us to change our attitudes - somewhat in the lines of the popular phrase I've used in the title. Now, I'm a staunch believer of this phrase and try to do my best to follow it so what I'm about to say doesn't in any way show my disagreement to Aamir's conclusion or the phrase itself.

We should all change our attitudes - be the change - we have to change the world - of course, but what then? Is real change happening? Think of AAP and Arvind Kejriwal - the change that was to sweep the country. The non-committal educated middle class come out in protest in Delhi and then vote this 'aam aadmi' to power and then within a few weeks one of his trusted lieutenants goes breaking the law by ill treating women. Did we not change and put faith in the phrase and vote for what we considered change - only to be completely stumped by what happened? Are the rape survivors in the show not 'being the change'? Are the hundreds and thousands of activists in the world not trying to 'be the change'? Of course, these people are not the 'aam aadmi' because they are courageous in taking on big changes unlike many of us. But closer home, think about the numbers of us who are trying to 'be the change' - stop at traffic lights, don't spit on the road, pick up our trash, don't waste water, drive safely, put people before profits in the place of work, treat all people equally and with respect - are we to feel contended that we are being the change that will change the world? Somehow it doesn't feel like it! And that's a shame but it doesn't feel unreal when you read and hear the news around the world.

It's probably the show's topic or the statistics shared in the show - less than 1% of rapists (if we factor in unreported cases) receive conviction - that seem to have made me so cynical.  Or may be it's just one of those days when my worry about the world blinds me to what I sincerely at other times hope and hold on to - that there are millions of things that I've to be happy about in life and things that are (or go) wrong tend to always take center stage - somewhat like a pinch of bitterness always has a way of masking a load of sweetness. I hope on hope that it is just one of those dark days - what other way there is to live to see another day!

Picture source: http://geg.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/be-the-change-beach.jpg