Language of Humanity:-LONG FORGOTTEN.

Written by:- Vaishnavi Bhandari

Dear Maa,

” This might and may not reach your doorstep, just like I never returned from that tragic day of 18th September 2013.

Maa, we live in a world that has forgotten to speak the language of humanity, the language of kindness. All this society knows now is the language of monstrosity and language of inhumanity. Our nation used to be a place where men raised wars when somebody tried to put their filthy hands on their honor, but presently some men are less of men than we could have ever thought them to be, in my case it was my own uncle. Poverty smogged in his head so much that he believed selling me for money would bring him a fortune and the life he has always desired. Maybe, he is having the time of his life too. But was I worth just being used as a deal? Maa, you once told me that the right man will bring me Gajras for my long hair, and even though he might not have money to fulfill my desires he’ll have jars full of love inside himself and that would be enough for me, but now, my hair is just used for grabbing and at 3 am in the night I hear noises of shattered expectations and whiskey bottles. Remember, when I broke your favorite glass and you just picked me up from the place so that I won’t get hurt? The sweet language of love in which you assured me that it was fine and accepted my apologies? Things have taken a little twist now,

I am made to dance on broken glasses and after they’re done filling their throats with whiskey and rum,

To scratch me and consume me, they thereupon come.

Maa, you once told me I will grow to be a beautiful woman with green bangles jigging on my hands, but instead of buying me bangles, men tie me in handcuffs or use their wrists do clutch mine as tightly as they can, the only color which stays on my hands is crimson blood red.

Maa, you once said that my skin is as soft as rose petals and matches the fragrance of berries, you advised me to take care of it, I tried to maa, I really did, but I remember the curtains in my room, so thin,

worn through, scratched, slapped, groaned just like my skin.

 Maa, you once said No means No and men should understand it,

But when I said the two-letter word,

My face was cupped and stabbed on the wall.

I was told to mind my language, I was a prostitute after all.

I tried to take all of it but I was tarnished with the title of ‘Prostitute’ and was broken every bit

I tried running away

but there was never a single way

I was made to do unthinkable things

Were they really human beings?

Maa, you always knew my love for poetries but I never thought my last one would be describing my plight. Sorry maa, I quit.”

Kashi ended the letter and overdosed on the drugs she was being given regularly.

This was an abstract letter, but what about the ones who have actually been in this situation? The circumstance we would never wish even for our enemies?

We live in a world that has ratified man’s absolute control over another. The unjustified trade and enslavement of human beings in this century reflect the state of affairs which confirms that the greatest ethical challenge facing the globe today is the lack of understanding of the language of humanity, kindness, and mercy.

Sex/human trafficking involves the use of human deception to exploit the vulnerable through forceful stripping of their dignity and self-worth. It also portrays a contrasting resemblance if unevenness among equals with regard to the right of every individual over her/his life, as trafficked victims are compelled to sell their freedom and are subject to coercive domination. 

This phenomenon manifests in the form of sex trafficking, women and children are merely reduced to the status of satisfying sexual commodity. Victims are subjected to constant abuse in order to force them to submit. They’re led in the pit of darkness where even cops conspire with traffickers in return for free sexual favors. Sometimes parents themselves sell their girls, school-age minor girls are forced to now in front of wealthy older men so that their parents can have all the privileges.

The most brutal form of sex trafficking is when people start speaking the language of exploitation. Where sadists feed on the popular belief that having sex with a virgin would cure them of sexually transmitted diseases. Little girls are raped and plagued until they are physically damaged and deprived of the natural light and satisfaction of motherhood. Male sex slavery and prostitution also exists. The ones who spoke the language of religion are huge fans of the Devdasi system, where young girls are trafficked and married off to a ‘temple deity.’ They are forced to provide their services to preachers.

Humanity is an act of compassion, concern, sympathy. It is worship, religion, behavior that spreads joy but most importantly is a language, a language which the dumb can speak, the deaf can hear and the blind can see. However, the one’s without any disabilities neglect to learn this language. Language is not just a collection of words in an unabridged dictionary but the individual and social passion of human beings. A number of languages emerged, died after some time along with them died the language of humanity too. In this society, seven billion or more people who are breathing the existing corruption, inequality, exploitation, harassment, and prejudice are striving to be free. It is time we learn this language because without them the culture of our nation blows up along with the people who live in it.