Weird things happen in Chennai (I dont know about other metros).
Why did that guy leave me his number at Pizza hut, while the others in his gang stared me like that?
Now, who sent this guy to hit hard on my hand and bum when the harmless me was walking on the road and he on his bike?
I remember my roommate visibly scared running towards the house we stayed at around 11 in the night saying that a guy on his bicyle tried to sexually harass her. And the very next week she was followed by a group of four people in a car till our house....
Some days later when we thought the place we stayed was not safe and decided to move to another other place, we happened to come late to the house once after a late night food festival assignment, and one guy followed us begging to spend some time with him.....we felt the insecurity, which was far terrible than the thought that we are helpless.
Hating Chennai was not the solution, we knew....but what was the solution, we didnt know. But initially I felt unsafe only in the place I stayed. But the present area, the places I go for reporting and even the most familiar place to me in Chennai - my cousins place where I stayed for more than three years - everywhere seems unsafe for me now just for being a woman.
Its shameful for all of us if a girl has to walks on the road holding her hands against her breast to protect herself from the sex-starved bastards...
- renitha is a journalist based in chennai. She plans to work as an activist in gender and children-related issues - CSA and empowerment.
Update: I have seen that Tulir does some amazing work on CSA-related issues and there is the blank noise project, one of the few places where you get to hear the dissonances. Tulir has a great quote from Einstein: "The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil but because of the people who don't do anything about it."
4 comments:
I'm pretty sure every female Chennai-ite would feel your pain (its pretty shocking how ignorant many of our male counterparts are, regarding this issue)!
The Einstein quote is awesome. Going by that, the first thing that comes to my mind is pepper spray! It comes in a tiny spray can and you can carry it in your hand (not your purse!) when you walk alone at night. If some f***er bothers you, spray away!! The effects will give you enough time to get to safety.
PS: Cobra Spray is a brand of pepper spray available in India.
hey swaps, thanks
any idea which shop stores pepper spray...we have tried some big stores like landmark and other general department stores. they dont.
My friend bought it from some place in B'lore. But you can order it (in the old-fashioned way) from this site: http://www.cobraspray.com/buynow.htm
Good luck to anyone who dares to mess with you! ;)
thanks a lot swaps.
have a nice time in good old madras.
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