RAKSHA KUMAR
It took three months to convince Ruchi that I am a “reasonable journalist" not a "TV journalist" looking for a byte.
We chatted on WhatsApp almost every other day.
At various times, she told me journalists are liars, opportunists and "worse than money lenders when it comes to extracting what they want".
Ruchi is a 20-year-old student I wanted to interview for a story on how young adults are saved from a stringent child abuse law only if they come across sensitive authorities. Else, they are doomed.
When I started my career 15 years ago, almost no one spoke of journalists disparagingly. I have always been greeted with raised eyebrows, pats on the shoulder or admiring looks when I introduced myself as a journalist. The profession has lost credibility, and we are left to carry the burden of such a downfall.
But, Ruchi's pessimism was induced by personal experiences.
In the past three years, Ruchi has been through a lot. She had fallen in love, witnessed her parents' Islamophobia, experienced excruciating loneliness, been locked up in a room, lost her love, entered a hostile police station, sat across a somewhat intimidating judge and lost a year of academic studies.
She told me that some journalists had doggedly tried to get her story all this time. When they failed to get the details, they had made up parts of it.
She once wrote to me, "In any case, I am pessimistic about everything these days."
I took Ruchi’s contempt for journalists as a sign of the times, but I was extremely saddened by her despondency toward love.
Ruchi fell in love with her 20-year-old Muslim neighbour when she was only 17. When her parents found out, they slapped a POCSO case against the boy. Not only was a young romance nipped in the bud, but it got entangled in the complexities of the law.
While reporting the story, I encountered several couples who had become weary of romance. The youthful joy about stealing glances, holding hands in public, or dreaming of a better future together seemed distant. Their eyes were empty, voices heavy, and movements lethargic. They had grown up too soon and skipped many stages of love while at it.
Perhaps the worst part of criminalising teenage sexuality is young people being left without an ounce of trust in romance. Would they ever turn out to be adults who believe in love?
Read Raksha Kumar’s full story here.
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