Being 12

I was 12-13 years old and on my way back from tennis practice. I would usually wear shorts and a t-shirt to tennis practice every evening. I would always sit in the front passenger seat and eat my snack on the way back home. One evening on the way back from tennis i had my snack box in my hand and i could feel my driver's eyes staring down at my legs. At first i thought he was just looking at the gear, but even at a traffic signal i could feel his eyes staring down at them. I can never forget that feeling of discomfort, I just couldn't wait to get home. I was so uncomfortable that I pretended like I needed something out of my tennis kit and reached to the back seat, grabbed it, pretended to look for something, and then placed it on my lap to cover my legs the rest of the way home. After that day I never sat in the front seat of the car next to my driver, I was not comfortable being in the car alone with him.

Action Shero Anonymous

Place: Bangalore

Being 12

Since my parents were quite protective of me in my childhood it was quite a while before I was confronted with this looming issue. The earliest memory of street harassment would be when I would walk alone to the market nearby and could literally feel the gaze of several jobless men on the road. There was singing songs, sleazy dialogues from Hindi movies and the whispered or loud remarks as I walked by. It failed to bother me after a point.

It was maybe because I never risked wandering into an empty lane alone as a child or I lived on a busy street that my earliest memory of street harassment is nothing that scarred me forever. However the feeling is something that makes me uncomfortable and causes me to hasten my pace as I'm walking on the road, avoiding eye contact or any sort of communication with the person who causes this discomfort.

Action Shero Pallavi Dutta

Place: Kolkata