This piece is not the result of the ‘feminist’ or ‘activist’ in me. It is the thoughts running in the mind of a ‘baffled girl’ as a result of the recent epidemic of ‘rape’ that India is fighting or rather staring at. “A society that is unable to respect, protect and nurture its women and children loses its moral moorings and runs adrift.” Her journey starts from the womb. The first task is to be able to step into this world without being killed because the number of female fetuses which don’t make it run in millions. Even before conception, they utter prayers, make vows, observe fasts, bow before this or that divinity, all so they might not remain childless or burdened with the debit side of the account – the girl child. Now once she makes it to this world, she turns out to be the ‘treasure’ nobody wants and her interests are often subordinated to those of the real treasure, the male sibling. Her nutritional and educational needs, like her emotional needs, are made subs...