Navratri begins today. Whilst festivals are always joyous — a time to dress up, sing, dance and make merry — for many women in the city they come with built-in cautionaries. Because, as any woman travelling in crowded areas will tell you, there is always an increased chance during such times of being groped or eve-teased.
Just last month, there was the incident of a lady being molested in Lower Parel whilst on her way home. An area close enough near my work place to hit home, set alarm bells ringing. This is not an isolated incident. Every day we hear or read about some form of harassment where women are concerned, to the point of becoming desensitised to this.
Many would say why write of this, festivals are happy, speak of sweetness and light.
Most certainly, I too enjoy celebrations, would like to concentrate on the gloss and ignore the rest, but not in a world where, and increasingly so, the crowds are such my sense of safety and well being feels restricted. Not in a world that will someday be the one my daughter — all daughters — celebrates in. A legacy, you will agree, must be one of joy not trepidation.
For many women in the city, working/travelling late or simply being round large crowds is a daily test of nerves. When festivals approach, this sense of self preservation is heightened manifold amidst huge gatherings. This applies to all festivals — even at the college level, from what women around tell me.
A recent report in a newsmagazine has ranked India a lowly 141 among 165 countries in its treatment of women. Not something to be proud about, especially when we are ranked lower than even our neighbours, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and China. Current movements like the Slut Walk in Delhi or others, with provocative names — maal chaal and the like — have tried to address the issue of what is colloquially termed ched chaad by drawing attention to it. Which might be spirited as an effort, perhaps, but falls short in the long term.
Like many women in the city, I am among those who have repeatedly had their nerves tested in crowds, most recently when adrenalin-charged Govindas on bikes surrounded my car on my way to work. They were cat-calling and thumping the bonnet and it was a moment of deep apprehension that will never quite go away. I opened this write up with Navratri because it begins today, but crowds are huge these days at every fest — Govindas (as I recounted), Mount Mary etc. Navratri being a Gujarati fest, it comes to mind that a Gujarati leader recently spoke of sadbhavana, albeit in another context.
Every woman in the city would like to feel safe at every celebration, sadbhavana should be for everyone. In a country where crimes against women (not just harassment; infanticide, dowry-related deaths, the whole gamut) only seem to be mounting, independent India’s first PM, Jawaharlal Nehru’s words, ‘you can tell the condition of a nation by looking at the status of its women’ really need to be taken seriously. Certainly more seriously than as convenient quote when occasion demands.
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