derogatory remarks /words

Things I Am Not : Word and Meaning Revised 2014

This archive has been built via a Blank Noise Action Hero Workshop
With the Tibetan Community in Exile. Tibetan Women's Association.

First version of 'Things I am Not ' was published in 2007.  Action Heroes send in food names they had been hooted at , songs sung to, and other adjectives/ insults.

We created an Action Hero workshop with the Tibetan Community in Exile, Tibetan Women's Association  in Dharamsala this August. One component of the workshop involved creating a list of names women had been called. Part of the process is in articulating an insult , verbalising it, rejecting it, sharing it. This also leads to building insight for further intervention.

Guideline for submission:
1. Please mention your origin / ethnicity
2. Where did you hear it ? ( place )
3. Who said it ?

Please email in at blurtblanknosie@gmail.com subject titled THINGS I AM NOT





Loose Women and Other Urban Indian Tales

Anuradha Sengupta
Jalebi Ink


Dear all,

I am writing this to share a recent incident that brought me face to face with many issues I feel are of wider importance, and to use this as a collective sounding board for possible future action.

My idea is simply to tap into the wider experiences and insights of the community of people this may reach, who are invested in creating a more just and equal environment for everyone. Since some people reading this may not know me personally, I will begin with some information on myself.

I live in Kolkata. I am a freelance journalist and travel around a bit. I run an award-winning indie youth media collective called Jalebi Ink. I am also a single mom, by choice. I haven't faced any significant negative situations about my choice/status.

Till now. Here in Kolkata.

Two days back, a nasty run-in happened with some older boys (17-18) in my colony (Behala) and with their parents.

These boys had been harassing my 13 yr old son for a while. But he wouldn't let me intervene saying no, they will make more fun of me. Things came to a head in an incident in the park where these boys caught hold of him and in public pulled his pants down while the rest watched and clapped.

What I did and what followed was illuminating.

I went to the leader of this gang and asked him to cease immediately. The gang was there. They shrugged it off with non-chalance. Your son is a liar, they said. This is all in fun anyway. Shoulder shrugs and a lot of smug laughter.

An altercation followed with the boys, and their parents and neighbours which turned nasty and in the next 15 minutes, I (a five foot one inch woman) was surrounded by a pack of these boys and their parents, and even their maids. It was like a chakravyuh. They shoved me around. They proceeded to hurl every known gendered and cliched abuse. They threatened to beat me and my son up. "I will kill you and your son," the boy said. I slapped him and his pal who had smugly admitted that he had "only touched my son's pants". The boys came at me with their fists balled up. But were held back by some friends.

There were onlookers - no one did anything

They came to my house after that, with more people. Same thing happened. More abuses - and extolling of virtue of their sons. "Bring out your son" "Chool chhaata mohila" (short- haired woman), "we know what you are", "frustrated" "loose" "harlot" "your son is abnormal" etc.

My mother and father (who has Parkinsons) stood behind asking them to leave with folded hands. He was told to get lost.

The neighbours did nothing - they walked past on the stairs, looking away.

I filed a complaint. They too did - ostensibly as I had "assaulted" these 17-18 yr olds.

The cops came and asked my son questions. They were decent enough. They told my son the bullying will stop. All that. But they may have done that as I had called up several of my media friends who in turn would have put pressure on them. They said we'll see what we can do and went off.

The father of the leader of the pack of boys incidentally is a local real estate promoter with links to local councillors. The house they stay in is forcibly occupied and belongs to someone I know.

It is sad what this place has become. I feel that the more women get out of stereotypes, the more reactionary society becomes.

A chool chhata (short haired), pant pora (pant-clad), westernised, single woman = 'loose character', as per Bengali middle-class morality. This is a dangerous trend that I have noticed over the years - the simmering violence within middle-class Bengalis and the growing tendency to ostracize independent single women based on warped notions of morality. It's mob mentality in its most vicious form, the shocking part being that these are the so-called 'educated' bhadroloks, not uneducated people from deprived backgrounds.

Like a friend pointed out, the external trappings of middle-class society have changed. Everyone thinks they're 'modern' now. But the mindset is still feudal. Add to that a growing propensity for violence, and you have a dangerous cocktail.

It's like living in the dark ages. Everything they said to women then, they are saying now. Women have to have male figures around as "protectors" and "guardians".

The police fellow's pen had hovered for a while over the "son of" section in his report when I said write my name. When I fill govt or even other forms (as in banks etc), there is a predominant "Wife of" "Daughter of" section. His glance had changed when I told him I am a single mom.

Ever since my father was diagnosed with Parkinsons, my mother has taken over all the document, bank etc work completely. And yet, they still ask her to fill in who she is a wife of or daughter of. It is frustrating. When will this end? It was well-known writer Githa Hariharan, who slammed home the point that a mother can be the sole guardian of a child. Before that, a father's signature would always be required on forms. (http://www.telegraphindia.com/1120229/jsp/opinion/story_15193043.jsp#.UWZSOZNTCSo)

I want to drive home to these boys and their parents that what they did was wrong on so many levels. What they did to a kid. Their strange warped perception of women. And the fact that they think it is fun to bully a 13 year old. The fact that they invaded my space and abused me. They did not bother about an old and ailing person. The boys who labelled me as a 'fallen woman' were teens, some of them going to the new crop of 'international' schools that have mushroomed in Calcutta. They have a music band. And yet they have such regressive mindsets.

I am looking for ideas and suggestions. From media stories, justified legal intervention to interventions or campaigns in the colony maybe. Blank Noise is a great organisation that does some amazing campaigns on harassment faced by women. Check them out here: http://blog.blanknoise.org/

Regards,
Anuradha Sengupta

Vocabulary - Strategy 2. Meeting rudeness with rationale

Vocabulary - Strategy 1. Owning, twisting, throwing it back

There's a reason it's called Bookish Bloomsbury.

Peppered with colleges and libraries and bookstores, this little bit of London has a portion that is frequented by cyclists and students hurrying back and forth from college. So when I was crossing one of the main roads leading into an enclave of colleges including my own, I was startled by a loud, "Excuse me!"

I ignored it at first, but it repeated itself, so loud that it pierced through the neighbourhood quiet: "Excuse ME!"

Directions, I thought. Students often stop to direct tourists to the nearby British Museum or Russell Square tube stop.

I turned.

A bunch of hooting guys were poking their heads out of their car - "Do you study around here?" asked the one in the passenger seat with a wide grin.

"No, I don't," I shouted back, "I'm a prostitute. Want to follow me?"

"A prostitute??" he said sounding taken aback. The car drove off.

The shout and the rejoinder hung disjointed and awkward around silent Bloomsbury.

I can't remember the last time I have said "prostitute" but it seemed to suit their aggression and a street dynamic I have come to cultivate which requires you to be rude and in your face, not look away or pretend not to notice.

In India people yell things at you and whistle as they pass you by. Here they yell out across streets, addressing questions at you, stopping you in your path with a mock exaggeration. Coyness, disregard, and looking downward don't work so well.

Recently I have begun to reply the buyont, "do you study around here?", the lip licking "hola, hola", the young boys surrounding you to ask directions, the "hello" with actual rejoinders - "I'm sorry, do I know you?" The conversation is always quick to be taken up, but the aggression in the response allows you to be participant in some skewed way in a street dialogue you did not initiate or want.

At Stoke, my friend is brushed against by a boy who could not be older than 12. "Asshole," she yells at him, and everyone at the bus stand turns. "Sorry," he mutters and his friend's smirk quickly shrinks away.

Men sipping coffee on Angel's Upper Street form their fingers into a camera shape and tilt their heads pretending to get the best "shot" of a friend's anatomy as she walks by. The girls that follow her stop to yell at them.

Neighbourhood gangs of boys are screamed at, fingers are shown, gangs of girls tease back loitering boys.

Looking back, talking sharp, packing punch, weaving wit and surprise into street talk... takes some doing especially when you're alone and sometimes embarrassed, but it seems better than being overwhelmed.

IMAGE WORD MEANING REVISION/ THINGS I AM NOT







I am not your apple, chamcham, coconut, butterchicken, makhan ki tikiya, bajji, doodh factory, narangi, mosambi, nimbu.... or whatever else you might want to eat. Blank Noise has created this food chart as an attempt to revise the relationship between- image, word and meaning.

Here's a compilation of words/food names sent in by over 70 women. While this list is out today it proposes to build istelf further with new participation. If you have more food names to add to in based on your experiences , please email us at blurtblanknoise@gmail.com, subject titled "excuse me?"

This is also an attempt to define 'street sexual harasment' through each person that has witnessed or experienced it.

We would also like to emphasize on the tone/ the adjective versus the noun - looking versus how one is looking.

The 70 + participants of " excuse me?" have been referred to as the following by random male strangers:

  • text edited by Hemangini Gupta.
Don't miss Salon's discussion about food and street sexual harassment.

  • The posters are up at Payal Kamat's office in Hyderbad! Email us and tell us if you have put them up in your neighbourhood/ college/ office/ marketplace!

street tales of love and lust

food name , statements, words of love , film songs,

'Eve Teasing' Food Chart. Excerpt 1 from Tales of Street Love and Lust

Aam ras -Aam Ras/Keri No Ras mango pulp of Gujarat origin. It is prepared with two kinds of mangoes Kesar and Haphoos (Alphonso).

Aloo- (hindi) potato The potato (Solanum tuberosum) is a perennial plant of the Solanaceae, or nightshade, family, commonly grown for its starchy tuber.
Nutritionally, potatoes are best known for their carbohydrate content (approximately 26 grams in a medium potato). Starch is the predominant form of carbohydrate found in potatoes

Apple-The apple is the pomaceous fruit of the apple tree, species Malus domestica in the rose family Rosaceae. It is one of the most widely cultivated tree fruits. Apples contain Vitamin C as well as a host of other antioxidant compounds, which may reduce the risk of cancer by preventing DNA damage

'bajji'/pakoda-Indian evening snack. Deep fried with gram flour coating. The bajji/ pakoda could contain onions/ potatoes/ pumkin

cham cham- Bengali (east Indian) sweet. Sweet, spongy and soft patties made from milk, flavored with saffron, in a sugar syrup.

butter chicken/ murgh makhani is North Indian dish popular in countries all over the world that have a tradition of Indian restaurants. Butter chicken is usually served with naan, roti, parathas or steamed rice.

Bhindi : ( Hindi) vegetable. also known as ochra or lady's finger.

Chatpati Papri- Indian street food.
Chatpati- (Hindi) adjective for a combination of sweet sour and spicey.
Papri- crispy fried dough wafers made from flour and ghee.

Chaat (Hindi: चाट, Urdu: چاٹ) is a word used across India, Pakistan and the rest of South Asia to refer to small plates of savory snacks, typically served at the side of the road from stalls or carts. Most chaat originated in North India, but they are now eaten across the country.
Papri Chaat the papris are served with potatoes, chilis, yoghurt and tamarind chutney.

Coffee widely consumed beverage prepared from the roasted seeds—commonly called "beans"—of the coffee plant. Coffee was first consumed as early as the 9th century, when it appeared in the highlands of Ethiopia

chicken fry fried chicken. deep fried tender chicken.

chaashni- sugar syrup. prepare chaashni by putting sugar in boiling water and stirring it until a thick consistent solution is attained

Doodh factory : doodh- milk ( hindi) is an opaque white liquid produced by the mammary glands of female mammals (including monotremes)

The exact components of raw milk varies by species, but it contains significant amounts of saturated fat, protein and calcium as well as vitamin C. Unfortunately the vitamin C is destroyed by the heat in pasteurization process

Egg: oval shaped with white shell. source- chicken. Contains yellow yolk and transparent fluid.

hari mirchi green chilli ( hindi)
hot vegetable used in India, Thai, Indonesian,Mexican cooking.Available fresh, dried, powdered, flaked, in oil, in sauce, bottled and pickled. It gives spiciness to all the vegetables.
Rich source of vitamin C. Also used to ward off evil spirit.

Jalebi -sweet commonly sold in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. made from deep-fried, syrup-soaked batter and shaped into a large, spiral shape. Jalebis are mostly bright orange in colour but are also available in white. It can be served dripping warm.

Juice drink made from fruits. rich in vitamins. popular indian juice- orange, pomegranate, pineapple, apple, lemon, watermelon, carrot

Kaai- vegetable (tamil)

Lassun (hindi) garlic :is a species in the onion family Alliaceae. Garlic, like onion, contains compounds that inhibit lipoxygenase and cyclooxygenase,

kela (hindi) banana :cultivated throughout the Tropics. Bananas are a valuable source of Vitamin A, Vitamin B6, Vitamin C, and potassium.

Lollypop is a candy pop/ suckers.
hard sweet sugar candies with a stick. type: Dum Dum , Tootsie Pop, Blow Pop21.

makhan ki tikiya: butter - the fatty portion of milk, separating as a soft whitish or
yellowish solid when milk or cream is agitated or churned.
tikiya (Hindi) - Roughly translated as 'cutlet': 1706, from Fr.
côtelette, from O.Fr. costelette "little rib," from coste "rib, side,"
from L. costa (see coast), infl. by Eng. cut.

Malai ("cream"): Rich portion of milk which rises to the
surface when the liquid is allowed to stand unless homogenised.

Maavinkai (Mango in Kannada): The fruit of a tropical tree,
Mangifera indica, of the cashew family, eaten ripe, or preserved or
pickled.

'Mirchi' - ("spice"): Any of a class of pungent or aromatic
substances of vegetable origin, as pepper, cinnamon, or cloves, used
as seasoning, preservatives, etc.

Mishti Doi:Mishti ("sweet" in Bengali) - Producing the one of the four basic
taste sensations that is not bitter, sour, or salt.
Doi ("yoghurt" in Bengali) - A prepared food having the consistency of
custard, made from milk curdled by the action of cultures.

Masala Dosa: South Indian crepe lightly cooked with a filling
of potatoes, fried onions and spices.

Mosambi: Lemon tree having fruit with a somewhat insipid sweetish pulp.

Mother dairy: Mother Dairy - Delhi was set up in 1974 under the
Operation Flood Programme. It is now a subsidiary company of National
Dairy Development Board (NDDB).

Narial ("Coconut") - The edible white flesh of the coconut,
often shredded and used in food and confections or for the extraction
of coconut oil.

Narangi/ oranges: Any white-flowered, evergreen citrus trees of
the genus Citrus, bearing this fruit, as C. aurantium (bitter orange,
Seville orange, or sour orange) and C. sinensis (sweet orange),
cultivated in warm countries.

NIMBE KAAYI (means nimbu/lemon) nimbe hanu (lemon): The
yellowish, acid fruit of a subtropical citrus tree, Citrus limon.

Onions/ pyaaz: A plant, Allium cepa, of the amaryllis family.

Pacha Manga: (Malyalam) raw mango. Also known as kairi. sour tasting summer fruit. Can be eaten in salad, or with salt and pepper. Also used to make pickle/ achar.

Pushnikaa (pumpkin), kaddu: 1647, alteration of pumpion "melon,
pumpkin" (1545), from M.Fr. pompon, from L. peponem (nom. pepo)
"melon," from Gk. pepon "melon," probably originally "cooked by the
sun, ripe," from peptein "to cook." Pumpkin-pie is recorded from 1654.
Pumpkin-head, Amer.Eng. colloquial for "person with hair cut short all
around" is recorded from 1781.

Pakaa Bel : Egg-shaped tropical fruit of certain passionflower
vines; used for sherbets and confectionery and drinks.

Panjamittaai (Cotton Candy): Czech: cukrová vata, Danish:
sukkervat, Dutch: gesponnen suiker, Estonian: suhkruvatt, Finnish:
hattara, French: barbe à papa, German: die Zuckerwatte, Greek: μαλλί
της γριάς

Rasberry: Any of various shrubby, usually prickly plants of the
genus Rubus in the rose family, such as R. idaeus var. strigosus of
eastern North America and R. idaeus of Europe, that bear edible fruit.

Rass malai: Rasmalai originated somewhere in the coastal parts of
the Indian state of Orissa. Sometimes shown as Rassmalai or Ras Malai.

Rasgulla: A dessert from Orissa and Bengal consisting of balls of
unripened cheese or cottage cheese (chenna) soaked in a syrup.

Samosa: popular South Asian snack. Triangular shape. Deep fried. Crispy dough crust with potato stuffing.

Son papri : Indian sweet prepared with gram flour. popularly sold at KC Das

takkaali, tomato, tamatar : The tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is a plant in the Solanaceae or nightshade family. Red pulpy fruit with seeds. Rich in vitamin C and A

Teekhi chaat: spicey chaat
chaat- indian street food
teekhi- spicey ( hindi)

Topa kool : (bengali) plum. used to make chutney/ sauce.

Tadka : Indian cooking. consists of onions, spices, curry leaves, green chili, tomatoes. The sauted ingredients are added to any Indian cooking.

Watermelons: green and red citrus food. produced in Japan in cube size , rest of world in a spherical shape. Excellent source of vitamin C and vitamin A, with one serving containing 14.59 mg of vitamin C and 556.32 IU of vitamin A. Watermelon also provides significant amounts of vitamin B6 and vitamin B1


Source: bloggers/ emails in response to "excuse me". Blank Noise event.

Tales of Love and Lust


Tales of Street Love and Lust were compiled after bloggers/ blank noise members/ supporters/ blank noise agents emailed us lists of words that they had heard on the street.

We have several lists now divided in the following categories-

1.Food- to be called or referred to as food/ fruit/ vegetable etc
2. statements/ comments
3. objects-
body parts literally referred to as objects
4. names
for miss bijli (lightening)
5. songs- about being courted on the street by random men singing verses from popular film songs being
6. other/ sounds/ behaviour/ gestures

On the 20th-21st we will publish the list of food names.

What?!


MIRCHI? SAMOSA? BUTTERFLY? LOLITA? TAMATAR( TOMATOES)? LASSUN
(GARLIC)? MALAI( CREAM)?

What did you just hear? What made you say " what?!! me??"

Send us your list of ridiculous,strange, bizzare, disgusting, funny, humiliating words that have been used towards you/ your body when you were out on the streets

*Be the Blank Noise Agent. Take the discussion home! ask your mom. sister. grandmom. aunts- what did they get to hear? Was it any different back then? Ask your colleagues, friends, peers...Take it to the streets, ask random strangers, make conversations, and EMAIL US.

Male members/ supporters can also participate*

email us at blurtblanknoise@gmail.com, subject titled, "excuse me?"

Your email responses will be listed on the blog with photographic illustrations of the responses. Email us no later than Aug 14th. Let's build the 'eve teasing' vocab!

On the 17th of August we will put all the words out on the blog!( date has been shifted from Aug 15th to 17th). Apologies.


  1. Surbhi Goel,
  2. Sneha Bhat
  3. Payal Kamat
  4. Jyotsna Mandana
  5. Naeem Mohaiemen
  6. Soumya C Shekhar
  7. Ratna Apnender
  8. Shikha Sethi
  9. Iz
  10. Chaitra Yadavar
  11. Nayantrana Abreo
  12. Vinita Bharadwaj
  13. Nabila Zaidi
  14. Annie Zaidi
  15. Neelam Jain
  16. Raheema Begum
  17. MIchaela
  18. Paige Trabulsi
  19. Reema Banerjee
  20. Sneha Singh
  21. Chitra Badrinarayan
  22. Meghana Chythanya
  23. Ruchika Bahl
  24. Anusha Hari
  25. Ratna, Shravanthi
  26. Hemangini Gupta
  27. Sindhu Menon
  28. Jasmeen Patheja,....
  29. Neeti Jain
  30. Beatrice Jauregui
  31. Tanisha Soni
  32. Simon Bhuiyan+ children between the age of 12-16 years
  33. Romal Singh as BLANK NOISE AGENT- he asked his friends
  34. Sharad Kapoor as BLANK NOISE AGENT- he asked his friends
  35. Vidya Raja
  36. Amrutha Bhushan
  37. Monica
  38. V Taneja
  39. Kamal Makkar Patheja
  40. Puja Gupta
  41. Sana Rizvi
  42. Nisha
  43. Ria Kartha
  44. Seema Seth
  45. Sunayna Roy
  46. Parul Sharma
  47. Bhoomika Joshi
  48. Pooja Sahai
  49. Nikhil Narayanan
  50. Anees Mekhri
  51. Dipanjali Rao
  52. Tashi yangzom bhutia
  53. Snigdha Mishra
  54. Tharunya Balan
  55. Nirmala Ravindran
  56. Bandna Kaur
  57. Suparna Kudesia
  58. Narada G
  59. Sunayana Roy
  60. Shriya Bhagwat
  61. Nandini Das
  62. Priyanka Rimi Nandy
  63. Esha U
  64. Bhavita Vaishnava
  65. Saptarshi
  66. Yashaswini Viswanathan
  67. Nisha
  68. Tanya X
  69. Asavari Gill
  70. Priyanka Verma
  71. Suman S
  72. .........................................
  73. Shravya Raghunand

  74. Vanita Falcao
  75. YOU?