Today at a mall in Bangalore we got into a tiff with a wacko couple. The woman was hanging her kid over the railing of the second floor, trying to get the one year old to grab a tassel that was hanging outside the rail.

We were on our way down the escalator when we saw the mother dip the kid out once, twice and then by the third time the kid nearly grabbed the tassel and we had our hearts in our mouths. If you want to imagine the scene, think of the 'Michael Jackson fiasco' at close range.

On reaching the retard mother, Aaman told her to – ‘Fucking stop tipping the child overboard’ and the fight began. The dimwit had the audacity to turn around and say that we should take care of our own kids and not care about others and that the kid was in 'safe hands'.

Right! The fight got bigger. The male psychopath grabbed Aaman and screamed’ Take them away or else I will kill them” The woman screamed “I want them out…throw them out!” I screamed back – “You were endangering your child’s life” The man tried to hit Aaman but the mall guards intervened, the people on the mall ogled and it became a big fiasco.

We tried to walk away when the mall security realized that the other couple was in the wrong but they followed us screaming “How dare you use abusive language”

I got mad and turned back and called the woman “A bitch” What I should have said was that our language was the least of the problems but the woman endangering the kid’s life was the bigger issue.

The woman heard me call her a bitch and created a bigger shit. “Don’t you dare let them go…blah …blah …blah …” She went on screaming.

I was near the elevator but decided to get back into the fight but Aaman pushed me back, so did the moron’s husband.

And an even more hilarious conversation took place

Aaman: “I apologize for the language but your wife …...”

The woman: “She called my mother a bitch!”

Me: “Your mother? I called you a bitch!”

Psycho husband: “You wife has a foul tongue”

Aaman: “Dee stay at the back, your wife had no business hanging the kid over a second floor railing!”

Psychopath husband: “Fine, I understand your concern but you could have been polite about it. My child was in safe hands, the kid wouldn’t have dropped the child. I am a surgeon I have saved numerous lives and know that my child was safe.”

That’s when I realized how futile the whole exercise was. One would expect a surgeon to have more sense. I hope I'm never under his knife:) We backed out and their parting shot was hilarious- “Bring your kids up the right way!”

I felt like replying- Ya, right! We won’t be hanging our kids off any railings!

But then felt it would be like barking back at a rabid dog.

Just because one can get society’s stamp of marriage, get fucked and then produce does not make people parents.

One would expect a mother to be always thinking of things that can go wrong. Parenting two active children has meant a constant flurry of keeping sharp pencils away and walking with the child on the 'safe' side of the road, besides a constant 'what-if' mode of risk assessment. The fear of heights is an atavistic instinct, and 'safe hands' do not make a reckless act any more tolerable.

And those who stood by and watched the circus were no less. It all happened in a crowded mall with lots of witnesses but we were the only ones who objected. A child could have died but no one seemed to care.

This is the state of my country and I am upset about it. The ‘chalta hai’ attitude gets to me. The Noida killing of children barely fluttered the feathers of the public opinion, the mauling and death of an eight year old child by a pack of dogs again merely made headlines and slipped way instead of people protesting about the law that allows strays to roam our streets.

This lethargic attitude of ‘minding one’s own business’ when something criminal is going on right under one’s nose should not be tolerated.

The mall security guy motioned us to leave in between the fight instead of calling the cops to arrest the couple for reckless endangerment and that’s when I realized that in India nobody really cares what happens to little ones.

Parents beat their kids up black and blue, mentally torture them and act as if the act of giving birth gives them ownership over the little ones.

We parents are guardians of these precious souls, not owners and if I had to intervene all over again I would do it again but with a different line. I would have told that woman that she gave motherhood and us women a bad name.