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 13

Well I haven’t had any nerve-wracking experiences, as far as eve-teasing is concerned. Mild forms of eve-teasing such as cat-calling, staring, passing comments, or just a once over, at least one of them is a daily dose for every woman.

The debate remains-How much is too much? To what extent must women ignore and move on? Is retaliating the best solution? Does walking away in silence with your head down seem right to you?

There’s no dearth of pepper sprays, pocket knives, or even self-defense classes. But what purpose do all of these serve when we are attacked and for a split second, we find ourselves in the shackles of fear, worry and helplessness.

With recent comments by politicians stating that women must learn to dress acceptably and must not get carried away by western influences, and blaming the rampant cases of rape on the explicit content featured in the films nowadays- Who is answerable?

In a century where there are cases of a woman being raped in her own apartment by her watchman, precautions like stay indoors after a certain time seem laughable.

So what should a woman do when confronted by such situations? If she turns around and slaps the offender, what’s to stop him from returning with a bunch of other hooligans like him, and swarming around the woman rendering her vulnerable?

Subah chaai peete waqt, akhbaaron mein balaatkaaron ki khabrein padhte toh hai, magar hamdardi ke alaawa de bhi kya sakte hai? (We read the news of women being raped as we sip our tea, but what more can we do apart from sympathizing? )

Action Shero Shipra

Place: Bangalore