Had the situation been not so tragic, it would be downright funny. The way our politicians and other sundry gurus are coming up with all sorts of explanations and theories about the rising number of sexual violence against women, just defies credulity. It is as if there is a mad rush to show who can come up with the most stupid statement regarding Indian women. These men and also a few women must have mastered the art of constantly hopping on one foot for the other is always in the mouth! From comments like ‘’rape only happens in India and not Bharat’’ to ‘’if that girl had addressed her attackers ‘bhaiya’, they might have spared her’’ to ‘’these protesters are mostly dented(sic) and painted women’’. The list could be endless considering that this country is never in short supply of dolts, but what they signify is something more darker and deeper. They clearly point out the fact that so many of these old men are out of reality and out of sync with an India that is modernizing and where more and more women are joining the workforce to claim the public sphere. A great majority of them are ready to push the envelope of so called ‘conventional behavior’ and live life on their own terms. This has resulted in the kind of backlash where these men with their hard eyes are looking for the phantom everywhere but which is essentially in their heads. At the mere sight of a confident and independent woman who is secure about her place in the world and is not looking for a benefactor in men, is more than enough to trigger the most vile and basest of emotions in them and they must lash out with all the fury at their command. There is always some amount of misogyny in every society but in India this reservoir runs a lot wider and deeper that is more than enough to provide fuel to this raging inferno.