My recent visit to Delhi some 7-8 months back had me being very cautious (though I guess those who know wht all happened will disagree) but I was!!! Atleast there was this constant sense tht this city is notorious for its treatment of women and so beware. Strangely I didn’t find any man staring (and by tht I guess women and even men wud know hw and where) or ogling and I am not talking abt just me but even at the other women. No comments either from any passerby or any other form of eve teasing, still I had this sense of apprehension.
On other hand is the comfort u feel when u r in some tribal region, esp in the hills. I ve never for a second thought twice about going for long walk, even in the wee hours in Darjeeling, Guwahati, Nainital and Ranikhet . Last year’s incident therefore came as a big surprise. It was in Lolegaon, in the Darjeeling district. We 3 frnds had planned our break from the city, not paying heed to many a well- meant- advises that lasted till the time we left home for the station. The journey and the time spent there is another story but I ll get back to why I was talking abt this….i was out for a walk and the weather cold (it was January!! Wht else cud we expect?) and a very dense cover of fog with reduced visibility to about 10 feet…(I was poor in maths so if I got it wrong pardon me!! But all I can say is tht I could hardly make out the trees at the sides of the road) . but I was having a wonderful time, njying the cold crisp afty, lost in some thought and at some turn there are 4-6 men taking a break from repairing the road and fagging. And thanx to having no experince of the sort in this part of the country walked on oblivious. Until I heard one of them make that weird kissing sound tht some men make tht makes ones skin crawl and want to get hold of them and give them a good bashing. That incident shook my false sense of comfort and since then I ve become a little careful L
Call me a fatalist but I believe that if things r meant to happen they can happen at the safest of place otherwise not even in the most dangerous ones…and before u argue, I also agree that it doesn’t mean that we go looking for trouble….
The point I am trying to make is tht so often we label things to be something and live our lives believing them to be true until something drastic happens to change tht…..the small- but meaning actions by the delhities r forgotten in the wake of the acts by some crazy members and hope to see that day when the city is really safe and I don’t hav to hear another scary story from the ex-army officer at NIPCCD….
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7 comments:
Think the teasers dont belong to a plc only... its the circumstances, motivation and the scope that makes them decide which place the girls can be attcked.. now, the experience u said in loloegaon, say if u were alone, u may have been physically assaulted (GOD forbid) also. On the other hand, if that place were frequented by ppl, no teasing wud hv taken plc.. I have been living in Delhi for quite sum time now and have never personnaly felt that delhi is unsafe for girls.. maybe that's bcoz i donot spend nights out.. its only thru the newspapers that i read abt the molestation et al.. The culprits take cognizance of the situation and then go for the prowl, they too have a fear of being caught, na?
I think something tht i didnt clarify is tht i was out walking alone and some 1 km from my hotel and around 300 mts from the shops and no hope of finding any1 else other than a passerby..
Yes Delhi does have a reputation of ill treating women. And there is a reason for that I think.
Most Delhiets r migrants...coming from all over India. It is my belief that a person behaves better when he is at or near to his home. The person is conscious that his friends, family members may see him or get to know his wrong doing. He is conscious of not only abt himself, but abt reputation of his family as well.
A metropolitan city like Delhi with millions of migrants, gives them the perfect cover they need to indulge in such activities.
Me think, since Kolkata is not a city of migrants on a scale like Delhi, we have less of such problems there for the same very reason.
My guess is the workers you came across in Lolegaon were migrant workers. Any person in a sleepy hilly village is unlikely to do this.
I believe ppl from a small place, specially if it is a tourist place, r conscious abt the image of their town and wouldn't want to tarnish it.
hmm...an intersting view point...as for the ppl in lolegaon i donno if they were migrants, but they were hilly ppl...
Thats why i always ask u to have some pepper & a knife with u, especially when u r moving alone.....it helps..arrey yaar unhe pata to chalna chahiye k panga liya kisse hain...........1km tu bhaag k bhi aa sakti hain! par panga leke nanga karke aAnaa tha......!!!
March 5, 2009 1:50 PM
hmm....thnxx now ppezz tell me where can i get these pepper sprays?
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