I was walking back home from work. No, I was not wearing any short clothes. I wore my jeans with a polo neck t-shirt. I got a bit late but not VERY late when 2 guys on a bike commented something cheap.
No, I did not react because it is a myth that a confident girl is considered ‘chaalu’. I kept walking towards the bus stop. It was around 9 and I was alone at the bus stop and every passer by was scanning me from head to toe. I was dead scared but didn’t let that show on my face.
A car stopped, I looked the other side. They asked me for a lift or a night. I refused to answer. They started teasing me that is when I shouted ‘NO’. But again a myth- a ‘no’ from a girl acts only as an ego hurting word for any guy, not a refusal. And then 2 of them came out of the car and started touching me.
I know, what you are thinking would have happened next. But no, she is our independent girl. She was a martial arts champion. She did not surrender herself to those guys.
That day as a girl I learnt my first lesson – trust no one, stay alert and always believe you can punch above your weight. For days and years that scene played out in my dreams but with a different end. In my dreams, I would beat up that savage mercilessly. After that incident, I hardened up, erased everything from my personality that would make me vulnerable, meek and an easy target.
The rape crimes are getting out of control. Everyday, we see atleast 5-10 rape cases in newspapers. And what we people do- IGNORE. What if the same happens with us someday? We girls are not safe in India. We are not even safe in our homes. It is not clothes that are small, it is our thinking. It is really depressing to feel the fear, the insecurity in our male colleagues, friends or people in general. Though the culture is changing, the thinking is not. We need to bring the change, we are the independent women of this society. We need to be our own saviour. And this girl could have been your sister, mother or wife. Such mishappenings could just be a joke for one but a life changing experience for the other.
– Lavisha Gera
Edited by Mrinaal Datt
Read more about them here.
Sign up to our newsletter. (Promise we won't spam)
