One more for the Blank Noise Project Blog-a-thon 2006 :

Late last year, I did a study in Delhi among young college girls ... here are some of the things they had to say about their concerns around harrassment.

"It is not safe, we can't go out of the house after 8 o clock. You have to be covered from head to legs.It is a big problem for college girls"

"If you are wearing cut sleeves that is a problem, eyes are seeing you ...that is so pathetic, they pass comments"

"You can't come in auto, DTC bus. I had gone for tuitions and I had worn a skirt. I was in a rickshaw and the comments were so bad, 'wah chikni'... I never wore a skirt outside again"

"Can't go out for parties, brothers or cousins accompany us.Even at a disc, we girls are in the center and the cousins and brothers friends are surrounding us"

"If a girl goes to a normal disc there is a whole category of Jat males, if they hit upon her and if she refuses, they will bash her"

"In a disc if a girl goes alone and someone acts smart, we feel it is by mistake they have touched you, but they do it purposely, and if you say something they slap you"

"Its everywhere - and they donít stop at anything - if the girl is continuously arguing with them, they will pick her up from home. So we keep quiet."

And this is a page from a Living Diary I had them fill up ... talking about activities that reflect who they are ... just look at the stress on the need to be tough ... fearless ... confident.

Being in Delhi as a woman, is a whole different feeling. Even now, as I approach the age of 40, I feel so uneasy about being out on the streets in Delhi or travelling alone by autorickshaw after 9 pm ... and even now, I hesitate to wear sleeveless tops or kurtas in Delhi. I don't drive in Delhi either ... although I'm so comfortable driving alone in Bombay even at 2 am. If my flight in to Delhi is delayed, I ask for a car to pick me up at the airport ... if for some reason I haveto use a cab late night, I keep one hand on a full deo spray I carry with me in my handbag.

I do many of these things because I don't want to attract attention to myself. I fear it won't stop at comments. I fear I will react .. and I fear the consequences of that reaction .... the young girls in my groups felt real fear too. My sister who lives in Delhi always asks me to call her up when I am leaving for home ... and gives me a call en route to her place too. ... "just checking you aren't being your sassy Bombay self, Dina".

I know I shouldn't .. but its just the way it is ... and I do feel real fear in Delhi.

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