I have learned that there is more power in a good strong hug than in a thousand meaningful words — Ann Hood (1956), American novelist
The title would seem juvenile in the face of India’s hugging saint, Mata Amritanandamayi (Amma). Born in Kerala in 1953, she is said to have hugged a total of 34 million (and counting) persons worldwide. Yet, hugging in a railway compartment in Kolkata can invite violent reaction and counter-reaction. But, first the facts.
According to a report, in an unprecedented incident of moral policing in Kolkata, a young couple was forced out of a packed Kolkata Metro Railway coach by fellow middle-aged commuters and thrashed at Dum Dum station for hugging inside the coach. It stated that the incident sparked after an old man objected to the hugging of a young couple inside the metro coach and resulted in the mob violence at Dum Dum. “While the couple tried to persuade people that they hugged to protect the woman from others groping her, the old man refused to listen and argued that they were ‘polluting’ the minds of others and suggested that they should instead visit a bar on Park Street. The boy gave prompt answers to the man’s remarks and smirked when he asked whether he thought he was Salman Khan. The other middle-aged male passengers were irked by the smirk and warned him of ‘dire consequences’ upon arriving at Dum Dum station.
“When the train entered Dum Dum, the middle-aged men dragged the couple to the platform and thrashed the boy black-and-blue. When the girl tried to save him, she was beaten up too by the irate men. However, finally, some youth and women intervened and rescued the couple and escorted them out of the station.
A hug is like a boomerang – you get it back right away – Bil Keane, American cartoonist (1922-2011)
In the Kolkata case, the violence against hugging came back like a boomerang with people rising against the hug-haters in various ways. As soon as the report was published, youth took to social media to criticise the act of the middle-aged men. Some questioned people’s morality and conscience as they keep mum when a woman is teased, groped or molested in full public glare in public transport throughout West Bengal.
(John B Monterio is a lecturer who drifted into writing and Journalism. He has authored three books and is the founder of the Bondel Laughter Club in Mangalore)
