--------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2008 International Goan Convention Toronto, Canada
Early Bird Discount Registration closes March 31, 2008 http://www.2008goanconvention.com/regform_print.html --------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.ndtv.com/debate/showdebate.asp?show=1&story_id=371&template=&category=Sports Thank God! I'm not Scarlett Prachi Mehrotra Monday, March 17, 2008: The rape and killing of Scarlett Keeling, a 15-year-old British national, whose body was found on the Goa's Anjuna beach, has raised many questions. Almost everybody, including Goa Chief Minister Digambar Kamat, has accused Scarlett's mother Fiona Mackowen of leaving her daughter at an unknown place. But would Scarlett have been spared had she been 16, 17 or 18? I don't really think so. Crime happens. However tragic and vile, but they happen and always will. A 15-year-old girl, irrespective of class or financial status, should obviously not be left behind with strangers in a foreign country. Many girls of that age go to clubs, parties and stay out all night. For them, it's just called growing up, but I believe that the parents still have a moral obligation to look after their kids. Sometimes it is the severity of parental neglect that is directly related to financial or social standing and parents come across as naive or neglectful. Had it been my mother, she would have never left me alone with a stranger even in Delhi, forget about an unknown place. It's not that she doesn't trust me, but you cannot rely on strangers. Parents should realise that the warm arm of responsibility for their young ones does not work from a distant beach. This is where your culture, society and upbringing come to the fore. At 15, studying in class 11, I knew whom to befriend and where to draw the line. At that age, I was a matured girl, who never fell to any peer pressure or had a drink or fag to show off. My mom always knew what I was doing and where I was going. In fact, she accompanied me to most of the places where I was a stranger. An average Indian mother, although Fiona was not one, would never leave her daughter anywhere, where she is not aware of her comings and goings, and what she would be doing. Scarlett's lifestyle is not something that I would identify with. She lived a life of a hippie, travelling and experiencing different cultures with her mother and six other siblings, but at an age where she should have been in a school. Different parents have different parenting styles and it does depend on the child also. Scarlett's lifestyle showed that her mother wanted to be "cool" and did not mind her daughter's drinking habits, drug addictions and friendship and sleeping with a tour-guide. Being a free spirit has a price - pity it was Scarlett who paid the price. Scarlett's mother, the hippie, new age caravan-living woman, did something that most of would never imagine to, but how right are we in blaming her for the tragic incident? Fiona did not know that the mindset of Indian men hasn't changed much over the decades and leaving your daughter in the company of strangers can invite trouble. But only if Fiona knew what was in store for her and her daughter. Thank God! I'm not Scarlett and my mom is not Fiona, and she has only two children.