My recent shift from Mumbai to the capital city wouldn't have been a pain if I would have been guaranteed the same amount of freedom I enjoyed in Mumbai. My mom made it very clear in the beginning that the evening parties and the frequent trips with friends will have to come to an end considering my most crucial year in school and yes, safety reasons.
Ask any Delhi girl, of any shape, size,weight,age and she would have faced an assault of some kind of the other. The visual assault begins as soon as you step out of your house. Men stare unabashedly at your legs and then their view shifts upwards sneering intently.Cast an angry look, and they shift their gaze like a reflex action. And then they start humming songs and tunes like they never saw you.Seriously, what's wrong with Delhi men?
We Delhi girls are trained to deal with men right since puberty hits us, or maybe even earlier. Because here, nobody helps us when we get stuck in such situations. We help ourselves.I remember a particular incident when I was travelling in a bus with my grandmother and a guy who was shamelessly leaning on a girl got slapped by her. Rest of the people in the bus were just mute spectators to the shamelessness of the man. Use public transport in Delhi only if you want to get groped by the public. Sad, but true. Further, no guy will offer you a seat in Metro or Buses. They will keep sitting there as if it is their birthright and when asked to get up from the seat allocated to ladies they will look at you in a queer manner and inevitably get up from their seat. The mere look on their face will force you think that it's better to stand in a bus packed with people rather than getting cold and dirty looks. We are a subject to scrutiny from the drivers of taxis to the salesmen at malls. They would stick around us like sticky toffee in our teeth which sticks to the crevices. "What size madam?" "This will look good on you, please try!". The tone of their voice indicates that this is not to promote sales, but a result of rising testosterone levels. Hurl an abuse or two and then the dangers of becoming a victim of acid attack will linger on for a long time.
A statement I read somewhere which I denied initially but suddenly makes sense "A woman can travel from North to anywhere in the country but cannot travel from anywhere to the North." My recent relocation to Delhi has made me pay more attention to the above statement. Though sexual abuses, eve teasing and rapes happen all over India, Delhi breaks all records. Women aren't safe here. They are subject to sheer disregard and abuse, both inside and outside the womb.
Ask any Delhi girl, of any shape, size,weight,age and she would have faced an assault of some kind of the other. The visual assault begins as soon as you step out of your house. Men stare unabashedly at your legs and then their view shifts upwards sneering intently.Cast an angry look, and they shift their gaze like a reflex action. And then they start humming songs and tunes like they never saw you.Seriously, what's wrong with Delhi men?
We Delhi girls are trained to deal with men right since puberty hits us, or maybe even earlier. Because here, nobody helps us when we get stuck in such situations. We help ourselves.I remember a particular incident when I was travelling in a bus with my grandmother and a guy who was shamelessly leaning on a girl got slapped by her. Rest of the people in the bus were just mute spectators to the shamelessness of the man. Use public transport in Delhi only if you want to get groped by the public. Sad, but true. Further, no guy will offer you a seat in Metro or Buses. They will keep sitting there as if it is their birthright and when asked to get up from the seat allocated to ladies they will look at you in a queer manner and inevitably get up from their seat. The mere look on their face will force you think that it's better to stand in a bus packed with people rather than getting cold and dirty looks. We are a subject to scrutiny from the drivers of taxis to the salesmen at malls. They would stick around us like sticky toffee in our teeth which sticks to the crevices. "What size madam?" "This will look good on you, please try!". The tone of their voice indicates that this is not to promote sales, but a result of rising testosterone levels. Hurl an abuse or two and then the dangers of becoming a victim of acid attack will linger on for a long time.
A statement I read somewhere which I denied initially but suddenly makes sense "A woman can travel from North to anywhere in the country but cannot travel from anywhere to the North." My recent relocation to Delhi has made me pay more attention to the above statement. Though sexual abuses, eve teasing and rapes happen all over India, Delhi breaks all records. Women aren't safe here. They are subject to sheer disregard and abuse, both inside and outside the womb.
I believe there's no difference in the men. The difference is in the thinking of the crowd. The crowd in Delhi would not react negatively to abuse or assault. At the same time, if the same thing happens any where else, say Mumbai, people would thrash the culprit out. Out here, in Delhi, people don't look out to standing for each other.
ReplyDeleteThough I agree with your point. I also believe that men in Delhi lack civic sense and have least respect for women. The other day when I was travelling with my mother in metro, a guy refused to bulge from the seat allocated to women!
ReplyDeleteIt's a very nicely written article. I just love the title! Way to go girl... :)
ReplyDeleteThis is really true and one of the main reasons why even though I would love to visit I never will. And it's not that this phenomenon does not occur in Mumbai but with the vivid details that you have described it in Delhi have made my belief in the capital fall further.Superb title.
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