So many stories. So many times I couldn't say anything, couldn't react. And then there are the times I could--I yelled, cursed, spit, even hit. I feel better every time I react, but I always think "what could I have done better?"
I'll relate two incidents from when I felt like an "action hero"--one old and one from today only.
One day I was walking through a craft mela when I noticed a man taking my picture with his mobile. I stopped and loudly asked him what the hell he was doing. When he said nothing I demanded he show me his phone, the pictures he had taken of me and my friend and countless other women in the mela and who knows where. By then a crowd had formed. I demanded that he erase my pictures from him phone and those of other women and stood there and watched while he embarassedly erased them all.
The second was tonight after the blank noise intervention. I had to get an auto from Khan Market after having dinner. Everyone wanted double the fare or more. Suddenly I noticed one of the autos had a "Chedkhani Roko" bumper sticker on the back of his auto. I asked him when he put the sticker on and found out he had been present at tonight's intervention. Still having the "ya" on my shirt I showed him to prove I'd been in the line. He recognized me then. He wasn't ready to go but his friend was, and at a reasonable price. Sometimes I wonder what the impact of our interventions is beyond the personal experience of the participants. Tonight I got an answer--no matter what the size, it does effect others. They remember us and our actions.
Posted 8th March 2007
