The Canvas Platter

It was in the sweet cozy cold weather of December in Delhi, I had gone to visit my aunt house in my native. Till 4pm afternoon there was no sunlight and we couldn't take a bath. Even more pathetic was the commode seat that was ice cold and inhuman to put your butts on. Bottomline, the winter in Delhi was very unbearable but that is not the point of this post, this post is a reflection on the equal cold attitude towards woman by the capital city.
I have reached the capital of the India to make my name in a big city. I decided to take up job away from my family and my home city, Pune. Delhi was new and unfamiliar for me, so were its customs.

The city was a bit prudish but same time very modern. Every girl would like the concept of shopping and roaming on the street of Delhi.What I didn't know back then was that freedom in Delhi comes with a little asterix and terms and condition.

Roaming all alone in this city is like a sin here, more so in the evening. People stare you as if you are an alien, that has declared a war on this planet. Some don't believe in only staring but also start following you.
One evening as I sat in a open cycle rickshaw on the busy streets of Faridabad, I noticed a fellow, from the corner of my eye, following the vehicle and kept looking at me. I asked for help from the old cycle rickshaw driver but he pretended not to hear my voice. I felt helpless but did not give up my determination. If I had the Smart Suraksha app that day, I could contact my friends instantly and even alert the cops as they say. Sadly, the day moved on and I did not find that man again to teach him a lesson.

The story does not end here, if this incident was an eye opener there were more such incident during my stay in the national capital region.

While coming back from a job interview, I was boarding a bus to faridabad. Unfortunately I was alone and had very little clue about the bus routes in this part of town. It was a dark evening and I was the only lady on the bus stop. I saw few guys standing next to me and looked decent and from good family background. I politely asked them for the bus number to Faridabad and they replied nicely. To my bad luck, all the bus coming were jam packed with a little room to breathe standing. I let go a few of them but after waiting for an hour, I decided to board the next one in the crowd.

The next one was crowded to its maximum capacity, I pushed into the crowd with all my might and managed to hold the bar inside. The boys from the stop also pushed their way into the bus. Since it was overcrowded, I could not see clearly but I definitely felt more than one person groping me in the crowd. It was difficult to move or slap the owner of the arm. I simply wished I had the handy option of calling for help at the right moment.

With very less option, I screamed loudly and the bus driver stopped the bus. Realizing their game was up, the boys dashed out of the bus. Later in the evening when I narrated the incident to a police constable, he informed me that it was difficult to ID the boys and said these things are minor and common. Both the incident seemed minor but nothing is major or minor when it comes to cruel intentions. If we could alert the right person at the right time, we could stop someone in a minor act and safeguard our future.

In the brief moment of uncertainty and helplessness if there is one button that can alert important people about our whereabouts, it goes a long way to give us the strength to fight back. It gives a fighting chance in the moment and that click could be the only difference between someones life and death.