Leaf Out of a Pepper Spray's Diary

February 13: It was like any other suffocating 'bottled up' day (do we have a choice!!). Though I have been in news from time to time, in public consciousness I am more of a wall flower like say fire extinguishers. We are thought of only during distress and soon forgotten. In fact many who buy us don't get a chance to use it even once in real life situations. Either such situations don't arise or they lose their nerve. In the west the police use me to 'pacify' unruly protestors thanks to my ability to evoke tears and even cause temporary blindness, but in India policemen use good old lathis to accomplish that.

Though I share my first name with that of a well known bitter tasting spice, it is quite a misnomer. I am more a creature made in laboratories than farms.

In India only time I trended was when the brutal gangrape of Nirbhaya in Delhi caught the country's imagination. Soon I began rubbing shoulders with lipsticks and i-Phones in the handbags of some well heeled Delhi women, especially those working in BPOs and jobs which require them to be out at not so civilized timings. Even some companies did some bulk purchase for their women employees.

All that warmed the cockles of my heart as I was instilling confidence among women and other vulnerable sections against vicious attacks by perverts and criminals.

Sigh all that today got pricked, thanks to the much maligned political class. I don't want to recall the incident, as it has all been in newspapers and TV with screaming headlines. Though the act per se hardly raises any eyebrows as the people of this country are quite inured to their lawmakers indulging in such hideously unlawful acts, nor do I have any sympathy for those affected by my discharge as they are no better. What pains me is getting caught in the cesspool, a taint which I may find it difficult to live down.

Also Read: Bangalore Beat