Monday 16 September 2013

IN THE WAKE OF RAPES IN OUR COUNTRY..........




Anu’s Chatter.....





I did not for sometime want to focus on crime and that was also the reason why, I did not write about it or..... avoid reading the first few pages of MUMBAI MIRROR.... that is  dedicated to crimes happening in and around Mumbai .......... dear friends as my attention caught the headline a couple of days back in-spite of myself, on the very first page of the same paper....  I am bound to react!  I needed to speak . I am doing the only way that I can best do----- Write! ...........The four accused in the Delhi Gruesome December Rape Case were awarded the capital punishment  and the fifth with a three years of imprisonment. ( because he is  a minor)....there were hundreds of responses to the capital punishment and the most shocking one is being of the  writer columnist Shobhaa De’s.....who spared no words in calling the legal system and people of our country ballistic...(because  she is totally against the capital punishment) . According to her  we Indians are turning into barbarians.. .......and   it will  not be  long before we will even come to stoning  people to death in the streets once their crime is established............in the same breath she went on to reveal .... about the pressure on the Judge  Mr Khanna , that might have forced him to pronounce such an extreme verdict...Honestly .....that was her personal view ..........but given the name and the front page coverage for the opinion expressed by a  famous writer like her ......... common people  will  bound to  take it seriously  .................I honestly, feel that the self obsessed celebrities  like Ms De should reserve   their opinions  to themselves instead of cashing in on every opportunity to write  on glaring  incidents happening  in our society  to just hog the limelight.........Having said that ....personally I feel , this verdict was a God sent  to women.  More  of the kind, should be handed out to the criminals in rape and Murder cases against women;  to instill fear and needless to say, to make our country a safer and a better place for the fairer sex!





SOME SAFETY MEASURES FOR WOMEN IN MUMBAI......I Know that most of the advises might  sound normal , but I take it on me to repeat ....at the cost of sounding cliche......



  • Please make it  a point, not to travel in the local trains after late hours ...if you must, change over to a compartment that is crowded( At least having some women in it)...  Note - Being powerful, bold or liberated does not mean inviting trouble.....
  • Please carry a fully charged mobile at all times...my practice is to carry a charger to work .....if I need to work late....please do the same...
  • Follow the principal of ----no man is a saint....( that works for me)..please abstain from traveling alone or venturing out alone with a male colleague  or  a friend to deserted places or lonely offices on projects at late hours...if you need to ------please inform the concerned boss or higher ups and be in touch with one or two of your friends and family members....this should be true for women who take company vehicles to work and back....in the night....

  • If at all you need to work late or travel late, carry a pepper spray....( I have not so far bought one but am in the process and most women should )...in the wake of crime increasing in Mumbai.

  • The most important rule is----- you need not prove anything to anyone....I tell myself all the time that I need not prove how smart I am , how great I am or how liberated I am to strangers.........basically lie low, think quick and act with presence of mind in  sticky circumstances.Follow the cardinal principal of what you might preach your kids....Don't talk to strangers!


  • This might sound 100% cliche and boring.....my personal  request to all women is to dress down.......all women must and should follow a basic international decency dressing code,while dressing for or while traveling in the public transports.I carry a change of clothes to the venue if I am partying or going out .
  • Besides all this be pro-active help other women in trouble...... raise an alarm ,scream, shout .....run, call the police anything that can work at the time....
  I am reminded of an incident once recounted by a friend...in an overcrowded Mumbai local .... she witnessed a man touching ...a woman standing in front of him ....unethically.....either the woman was blind or she was too engrossed  balancing the baby on her shoulder that she did not pay attention....  My friend ( A liberated Mumbaite and a Modern Indian Woman by all standards) was angry and glared at the man .When it did not work she asked him if the woman standing in the front was his wife?He moved his head in negative .......after which, she started giving him  a  speech about morality . What happened next dear friends you can  only visualize...specially in an overcrowded public transport in Mumbai,  where people are frustrated and some are even looking for  entertainment to pass time.........THE MAN HAD TO BEAR THE BRUNT OF THE PUBLIC.....OF COURSE!



IF YOU CAN COME UP WITH ANY-OTHER SAFETY RULES FOR WOMEN YOU ARE MOST WELCOME TO SHARE WITH MY READERS.....You can also respond to this blog...by recounting your own experiences  on  eve-teasing and how you dealt with it...?

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