It's about time we start questioning.

“I don’t believe in charity. I believe in solidarity. Charity is vertical, so it’s humiliating. It goes from the top to the bottom. Solidarity is horizontal. It respects the other and learns from the other. I have a lot to learn from other people.” — Eduardo Galeano

Eduardo Galeano couldn't have said more appropriately than this,what we want in our society are people with solidarity in nature rather than being charitable.

What do you mean by solidarity? For a textbook answer I would say it means unity or agreement of feeling or action, especially among individuals with a common interest or mutual support within a group. But tell me one thing when did you as an individual really stand up for something or maybe supported someone in their journey to fight a battle. Here I am not talking about the physical fighting or the fist fighting or the verbal trash talking people do on the internet to support their point of view. No, I am talking about taking a stand for the wrong doing around you and doing your bit to change that rather than sitting on your couch updating a status and commenting trash while thinking you're above all.

So lets talk about the time when we all were standing together as a team against something we believe is degrading the human growth in an aspect that is destroying the balance. It is the 21st century and we still are fighting over the cast system or the religion of a person. Did you ever wonder why this fight is still going on. Even after so many years why a Dalit guy in our country is scared to speak his mind in his own village or why a Muslim girl is still unaware of her basic right such as education.Why aren't we talking about these important things and standing up for it to support those who are still being treated as lower bracket. We talk about the latest update of our favorite actor's workout routine but then why don't we address the real topic around us. Why are we afraid to talk about the people who are discriminated on the basis of their color,status,religion or cast. Are we afraid that the our voice isn't enough to raise the issue well, though that fear is a rational fear because in today's time where we say our country is a democratic country, where every individual is allowed or I should say every individual has a right to express their view point.But at the same time we get lashed out by someone or may be charged up because some other authority didn't agree to what I say or how I express my point of view. To speak my mind on something and expressing my view on it does not mean that you also have to agree with it. In a nation like ours where we have freedom of expression, we are allowed to express our opinion now you can agree with it or you can agree to disagree with someone's opinion on something.But at least talk about it that why in a country of 1.3 Billion people we are still afraid to express our point of view. Why we are afraid of few thousands opinion on a topic where we have an audience of 1.3 Billion people.

There are so many Why's in my mind when I see that more than 7,200 minors – 1.6 in 100,000 minors – are raped each year in India. Among these, victims who do report the assaults are alleged to suffer mistreatment and humiliation from the police. Minor girls are trafficked into prostitution in India, thus rape of minors conflates into a lifetime of suffering and we are still struggling to help then get the justice in our country.For a cases like "Nirmala Panta, a 13-year-old girl from Kanchanpur, was found raped and murdered in a sugarcane field near her home on 27 July 2018, after she had gone missing the day before". For a cases like this why the process of investigation is delayed rather than pressing it as an higher priority. Why aren't we talking about these incidents where a teenage girl is not safe around her own space. Why aren't we talking about places like Azamgarh where a man is killed because the upper cast couldn't hear him say NO or why a minority guy has to still suffer in a country where we believe the modernization has changed the style of living. People living in suburbs don't realize or may be they don't want to address these topics because they don't want to come out of their comfort and deal with this. Those who are doing are being labeled as NGOs or charitable trusts but as an individual we are not taking part to work on the better. We may be having a thought or consciousness towards it but its not enough,right now as a youth of this country we have to be part of the big debate.That is whether we want to address the real issues around us or we just want to follow the new trend on social media. And here I am not judging those who are active on Social media with ongoing trends but do use your platform for the serious debatable issues where at least one person is able to grow their thought over that topic. At least one person is able to grow their consciousness towards the real issue and try to be a part of the ongoing struggle to get justice. We can find the balance and can also find the answers of all these why's if only we come together and search for it.

- Taheera Ahmed