GREATER NOIDA
Friday, September 27, 2019
Negative distinction: Delhi is India’s juvenile crime Capital
BY JANMEJAI SINGH
Delhi leads in juvenile
crime cases with a total
of 12,258 rape cases till
2018 as mentioned by the
National Crime Rec-ords
Bureau even after the Nir-
bhaya incident, despite
several campaigns for a
safe National Capital.
“Juvenile delinquen-
cy is increasing in Delhi.
Instances of 10-14-year
olds being sold to crime
rings and trained to pick
pockets, steal wallets, cell
phones and bags are com-
ing to light. Such children
are also being pushed into
drug trafficking. This is an
alarming trend which the
authorities need to open
their eyes to and effective-
ly tackle,” said sen-ior ad-
vocate Mr. Shivank Pratap.
According to NCRB,
20.6 per cent (7,369) of
Career is
poetry for
this youth
By SEJAL SONI
Simar Singh, 19-year-old
founder of UnErase poet-
ry, made this platform for
people all across India to
share their thoughts. He
started his journey two
years ago. He’s currently
pursuing his Masters in
Literature from Mum-
bai University. “The idea
randomly struck me,” he
says. And this idea of Un-
Erase poetry has made
him famous.
He has been an en-
thusiastic writer since
the age of nine. Read-
ing books helped him to
get better in writing and
speaking. He had note-
books in which he would
jot down his poems. He
believes, spoken poetry
connects different people
to come together to ex-
press their emotions and
views. Singh’s parents
always supported him
in his decisions. Even
though he skipped a few
classes here and there
in school, his teachers
were understanding and
co-operative. He truly
values poetry as it’s an
essential part of his life.
He has travelled to
many places because of
UnErase poetry. He has
performed in cafés like
Tuning Fork. His first
work there was titled
‘Papa’ for which he re-
ceived a lot of apprecia-
Young, happy and honoured to be writers of modern India
By RITWIJ RAJ
Anoushka, Antara and Ro-
hit are authors of a new
generation with lots to
share with budding writ-
ers.
“Since childhood, I
read every night before
going to bed. I gradually
started writing. My moth-
er created a blog for me
called ‘Kiddylane Blogspot’
when I was five. I wrote my
first poem at age 6. That is
how it all started,’’ 12-year-
old Anoushka Sabnis,
the youngest author and
speaker at the recent Zee
Jaipur Literature Festival.
“I got my first book
published when I was 10.
It is a collection of poems
titled ‘Once Upon a Verse
– Because Poems Tell Sto-
ries’. I started writing poet-
ry as a new-year resolution
and then realized I was en-
joying it. Over time, I got
better at generating ideas
and learnt techniques. By
the end of the year, I had
written 52 poems which
cases under ‘Child in Con-
flict with Law’ were re-
ported in Madhya Pradesh
followed by 18.4 per cent
in Maharashtra (6,606)
during 2016. Cases report-
ed under child in conflict
with law were 33,433 in
2015 which rose by 2,056
in 2016. In 2013, a total
of 1737 rape cases were
registered with 990 mur-
der cases. A total of 8,676
rape cases or assault on
women were committed by
juveniles between 2010-
14 which was a substan-
tial rise in the crime rate.
Highest number of cases
under child in conflict with
law were reported in Delhi
at (amongst 19 Metropol-
itan Cities) 35.6 per cent
(2368 cases out of 6645)
during 2016. Rape by ju-
veniles rose by 70 per cent
while assault rose by 60
per cent. Madhya Pradesh
tion. Besides poetry, he
is into film mak-ing. He
started making films at
the age of 14. He consid-
ered joining the theatre
community. He direct-
ed two short films in
two years and complet-
ed 25 projects. He also
tried doing stand ups.
He adds, “Although my
friends found me fun-
ny, I realised that other
people didn’t, but my fel-
low stand-up comedians
cheered me to go ahead.”
His source of inspi-
ration is his mother. “My
mother left no stone un-
turned in making sure I
follow my passion, she is
my constant support”, he
says.
“My family consists
of readers and writers
who taught me that when
one doesn’t have a plat-
form, they should create
one for themselves. I
think you improve each
day and every time you
think you are doing well,
you should practice even
harder,” he added.
Singh’s poetry re-
flected how the society is,
how it needs to get back
on track and the prob-
lems that we will face
if we continue to mess
things up.
Aman Kumar, a psy-
chology student from
Bangalore came across
UnErase poetry while
surfing through the in-
formed the book,’’ Sabnis
tells you.
She loves reading and
believes the knack of writ-
ing comes from there. A
clutch of writers and her
own books are her inspi-
ration. “Every time I read
a new book, I take some-
thing away from it, like
the writing style or maybe
a new phrase. It always
helps when I sit down to
write,” she said.
Sabnis explores the
world through different
literature genres. “If I read
an emotional book, I might
write a poem on that par-
ticular emotion. If I read
something about love, my
writing tends to portray
that feeling. I can say my
inspiration is my collection
of paperbacks and hard
bounds,’’ she adds.
An occasional writer’s
block is her main chal-
lenge because that’s when
it becomes difficult for her
to come up with new ide-
as. The other is managing
time between school and
THE TIMESOF BENNETT
Shivank Pratap, a senior advocate
Photo by Janmejai Singh
became the state with
highest number of rape
cases which were 4,882
in 2016 followed by Uttar
Pradesh with 4,816 rape
cases. In 2016, over 50
per cent of juvenile crimes
were sexual offences.
“One of the reasons
could also be the imbal-
Simar Singh performs in Tuning Fork Cafe
in New Delhi
ternet.
“It’s a good platform
for a few reasons. It pro-
vides you the opportuni-
ty to give an individual
the freedom to present
the thoughts in an artis-
tic way,” says Kumar.
Shria Violet, a first-
year law student says,
“UnErase poetry helps us
in sharing our thoughts.
It lights a spark to start
a revolt against the soci-
ety to become better than
who we are.
There are people who
have similar thoughts
but are unable to ex-
press themselves. So,
when they hear some-
one speaking the words
they have always wanted
to hear, they form a con-
nection with the person.”
Singh firmly believed
that a platform was
needed to showcase dif-
Young auhtors Anoushka Sabnis, Rohit Arvind Jain and Antara Shivhare
writing.
“The myth about the
publishing industry is that
it only respects famous
authors. Budding writers
hold back their manu-
scripts due to fear of rejec-
tion. All these big authors
were once aspiring writers
holding their first man-
uscripts in their unsure
ance of sex-ratio. Crime
and sex-ratio may have a
complex connection along
with other factor such as
education and socio-reli-
gious factors,” said Dr S P
S Raghav, a professor at
the Ma-hatma Gandhi Col-
lege of Law.
It has been shown by
ferent talents and that’s
the only reason why he
built UnErase poetry. He
speaks on issues such as
rape, toxic masculinity
and mental health.
Spoken word poetry
has helped many poets in
finding a common voice
even with several vari-
ous linguistic cultures
like Malayalam, Marathi,
Hindi, etc.
“This helps audienc-
es who want to hear the
pieces in their original
language” he adds. Un-
Erase poetry’s YouTube
family has 7 lakh people
and is flourishing.
“I’m glad to help peo-
ple who want to express
themselves using poetry
as a medium of reducing
stress and in making this
world a little bit better,”
says Simar.
hands. They did not allow
their fear to overpower
their dreams,” she points
out, asserting that there is
a market for all kinds of
writers and genres.
The Indian publishing
industry, she says, is easy
to tackle. “This is a great
time for storytelling across
the media – from print to
Juvenile delinquency is increasing
in Delhi. Instances of 10-14 year
olds being sold to crime rings and
trained to pick pockets, steal wal-
lets, cell phones and bags are com-
ing to light. Such children are also
being pushed into drug trafficking.
This is an alarming trend which the
authorities need to open their eyes
to and effectively tackle
- Senior advocate Shivank Pratap
WHO and other health
agencies that psychologi-
cal factors such as ADHD,
hyperactivity, conduct and
other behavioural disor-
ders are responsible for
involvement in crime.
Talking about the main
reasons behind youth com-
mitting a crime, Pratap
Bonding over dosas on campus
By SULAGNA BISWAL
Shashwat Nanda, a stu-
dent of SRM Institute of
Science and Technology,
Chennai, has experienced
the highs and lows of living
in a hostel; through which
he has collected a host of
memories and lessons he
will cherish for life.
Hailing from Bilaspur,
Chhattisgarh, Nanda is in
his final year of B. Tech
Electronics and Commu-
nication Engineering and
has been thriving in the
college environment.
“I have so much fun
in college, it has become
a second home for me,”
says Nanda. However, sit-
uations were not always as
favourable for him as they
are now. He shares bits of
his time as a fresher in the
vast university with bitter
nostalgia.
“I wasn’t the most out-
going of kids, you know,”
he comments, “And I
didn’t know any of the
languages of South which
became a bigger problem
than I had anticipated.”
He stepped into SRM
with fluency in Hindi and
English but realized that
all he could ever hear was
Telegu or Tamil with a few
Hindi words in between.
“Don’t underestimate
how big a university can
be. It is not like a school,
no matter how big your
school was,” he adds.
With such a language
barrier, there were bound
to be some difficulties nav-
igating through college life.
For Nanda, it came in
the form of making friends.
“I had no clue about how
to make friends as I had
always been a shy kid and
visual to performing. In-
dian literature is booming
with new authors. Publish-
ers are ready to provide a
platform to them. Litera-
ture no longer is elitist,”
she adds.
Sabnis is working on
a fiction novel which is
a story of a girl and her
companion with different
mentioned the broad cat-
egories of of-fences which
are, causing bodily injury,
sexual offences, offences
against property like theft
and drug related crimes
which are most common
in the youth.
He also said, “Out of
the above, sexual offences
Shashwat Nanda in SRM University’s Delhi Campus
with the added pressure of
people coming from other
states with a whole new
set of languages, it became
even more terrifying,”
states Nanda.
He remembers meet-
ing a few students from
Chhattisgarh and trying to
become friends with them.
He also joined late, so
many people had already
formed groups and he
started to feel isolated.
After which, he decided
to come out of his comfort
zone and participate in
club activities and campus
events.
Over the course of four
years, he made friends
who turned into family. He
found out that even though
people in Chennai did not
Photos by Ritwij Raj
dreams and purposes but
with a common mission of
doing the incredible.
She believes that there
is immense joy in creating
anything, be it art, music
or literature. “Enjoy the
process of creation. If you
focus on the outcome, it
will scare you,” she adds.
Then there is Rohit
are usually committed by
youth facing some psycho-
logical prob-lems.
However, another fac-
tor is poverty and in most
cases the offenders come
from a lower socio-eco-
nomic stratum.” The ad-
vantage that the crime
syndicates employing such
youth gain is that juveniles
cannot be prosecuted like
adults and the law is much
lenient when it comes to
offences committed by mi-
nors.
“Reformative theory is
the most sensible and apt
to deal with young offend-
ers. However, for serious
offences like murder and
rape, even young offenders
should be subject to strict
punishment,” says Pratap.
The combination of crimi-
nology and psychology can
help in identifying a minor
at risk of committing of-
Photo by Sulagna Biswal
know Chhattisgarhi Muth-
ia, he was equally ignorant
of the delights of Rasam
and Poddu.
He also started to bond
with people from various
states, fuelled by their
shared hatred of the can-
teen food.
“For me the thing that
differentiates the South In-
dian culture from my cul-
ture is the food and their
routinely manner.”
Elaborating, he said,
“My room-mate is Kanna-
diga and he is very particu-
lar about his routine. Most
people from South that I
know are like that.”
Even after four years,
Nanda still misses his
mother’s cooking and his
friends from Bilaspur. He
Arvind Jain who started
writing at age 19. He has
published a book on cy-
bercrime ‘Cyber Crime
and Laws: An Overview on
Securing Cyberspace’. He
is working on generating
awareness around cyber-
crime and laws.
“Due to a lack of
awareness, people suffer
losses and difficulties due
to cyber-crime and that
inspired me to write,’’ he
says.
The foreword of his
book has been written by
Justice P K Jaiswal of the
Indore High Court.
He is the youngest au-
thor of a law book and en-
joys the honour of being
called the ‘Gyanputra’ by
the United Lawyer Associ-
ation, Agra.
According to Jain, the
biggest myth of this indus-
try is that writing a book
is an easy task which it is
not. He tells you that he
has faced many problems
while writing.
“The first problem was
3
fence. It is difficult to dif-
ferentiate between a sound
mind and a criminal mind
as it cannot be known to
us; since most criminals
develop greater criminal
tendencies during their
time in prisons, which
starts with imprisonment
for some petty offence.
In his opinion, the lack
of moral education also
contributes to a ‘criminal
mentality’.
“The overall rise in ma-
terialism has contributed
to the list of factors. Edu-
cation must be imparted
to counter such negative
effects emerging in the so-
ciety,” said Pratap.
According to him, a
pressing need to gain eco-
nomic independence at
an early age could be a
contributory factor to the
growth of crimes commit-
ted by youth.
has learnt to adjust with
new people and their hab-
its.
“Living outside your
home teaches you all this.
It makes you miss the com-
forts of your home, but it
also enriches you with a lot
of values,” he states.
He comments on how
Chennai has made him a
lot more appreciative of his
sunny city.
He does miss his fa-
vourite dishes from his
states’ cuisine, but he
has started to enjoy a
good crispy Dosa with his
friends.
“Ultimately it is all
about getting out of your
comfort zone and having
fun while being responsi-
ble,” says Nanda.
to convert long and diffi-
cult legal words into easy
vocabulary so that a lay-
man could easily under-
stand it; the second one
was to search for a good
publication for support
and guidance,” Jain says.
Antara Shivhare, on the
other hand, started writing
from the age of 14. Her
first book was titled ‘Depth
of Silence’ which is a po-
etry book that shows how
suffocating silence can be.
“The sound of silence is
louder than anything else.
The biggest challenges are
lack of ideas, rhyming for
poetry and vocabulary,”
Shivhare adds.
She believes that it is
not just famous publishing
houses that can lead you to
success as a writer. “Self
-publishing is easy but get-
ting good traditional pub-
lishers is a tough game,”
she says.
“Don’t be scared of
judgments, write about
what you feel,’’ she says as
advice to budding writers.