Delhi or at least women in Delhi have reached the tipping point of dealing with patriarchy
and its resulting barbaric attitudes towards women. I do not live in New Delhi
anymore but a few days ago I had a very vivid nightmare about walking through a
stretch of land in a salwar kameez
and feeling immense panic as I try to avoid the leers from Indian men. The events of the past couple of months have rattled my
head and I cannot begin to imagine how
the women currently living in New Delhi must feel.
I spent a year in Delhi University in
1998-99 in one of the women-only colleges. The trek to the bus stop was a good
10 minute walk through a barren stretch of road. All the girls in the
college were advised to walk in groups to ensure safety in numbers. I remember
a few instances when I walked to the bus-stop by myself, sprinting to make
it there so that I am not alone on that ominously empty road for too long.
What do you get when you reach the bus
stop? - leers from the men on that continue even when you board the bus. If the bus is crowded, you
would have to patiently wait (in Delhi heat) for the next less-crowded one
because entering a crowded bus will most certainly subject you to molestation
by some of the men on the bus. Also, you know how everyone tells you
to cover up when you are on the bus? Trust me, it does not make a difference,
you could be clothed in a burkha and
you will still get molested. Eventually after a few months of this crap, a few
of us got together to carpool or share an auto-rickshaw. Unfortunately, not all
women have the choice to stop taking the bus.
Sadly, the scenario I have described is
a mild version of the commute that a
lot of women in Delhi had to deal with 14 years ago. What are the women in Delhi going though today, every single day?
