Wednesday, December 24, 2008

sonia'z travelz

Traveling late in the night is unsafe for women.. be it be mumbai or delhi or chennai… if you want to be safe, be home “on time”.. …………..
The definition of “on time” depends from person 2 person.. For my mom its 7.00p.m., for my hostel warden it was 8.00p.m. for my rommies, its 10, and for myself also, its 10.. …I avoid traveling unaccompanied after 10.00… in fact I don’t…….

Yesterday however was different.. circumstances forced me to travel very late in the night….even though I was wid Anilu (aniluz a frend frm MSW)………..it was shit scary……. it may sound idiotic, but each and every guy seemed like an asshole at that time….and I felt “wrong” traveling so late….. I kept telling myself that I wont repeat this.. ……… but you know how humans are…. ….at the time of travel…... the “scarynes” kinda wore off. …..
I started “seeing” the night… ………………like ..feeling it……
It was beautiful….. beyond compare….. the stars were so bright….ive never seen so many in Mumbai…. I could make out the Orion… and the “feeling “ was so serene…. It felt so pure…… the atmosphere.. …the night sky was beautiful… and the breeze was cool….soothing.. ..it felt as if im the only one truly alive.. breathing.. feeling those moments….. it was an incomparable day…. Well, night

There was a movement by the women activists in late 1970s called “Take Back The Night” in the US. Even though the march was to bring forth the violence which women undergo in the night in public, the purpose was to talk about the violence which women face in the public sphere.

Is it not extremely relevant even today? Most women do face violence in the public sphere, especially in the night. It is almost like taking away the freedom of the person. And I also feel that “feeling scared” is also violence. I mean creation of that feeling in a woman is a kind of violence perpetrated by the society… ....

Some may argue that freedom is in the “mind” types.. .. … then why to blame “someone else” if ur a coward urself ….. however, being afraid is also because of reason….. why would the mind be afraid, if there is no reason to it… ..it is because of something…
Some may also say.. and freedom does not necessarily mean “traveling”…………that I could see the moon from my window too!!! But for me, traveling is one of the most important forms of freedom.. traveling at anytime without fear… traveling in the middle of the night just to see the moon… to run and feel the breeze.. .. and see the sun rise…… and to just sit and stare at the sea……………

Whatever said and done… I felt great yesterday .... .. I forgot my fear and I was “free”….. I wish I cud roam arnd lyk dis sometimes… alone……..without being judged…. nd without being scared…. Well, I guess im gonna do that very soon…..how abt learning karate!!!!!!!!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

yes its true... travelling late night is very unsafe..but you saying this does not suit....ha ha ha..I questioned..r u "unpredictable".. yes u r.

Ok tel me onething, were it really circumstance, so u got very late in d night..or something else (preplanned)....Wel i must say u write very well... i can now say dat u r really involved in reading novels.....ok now i shud stop dis else u will hit me at home..

Night is beautiful, peaceful, ambitious, admirable....at home, wen u r woman na that feeling automatically comes afterall one can change herself not the entire men mantality nd its not d night only wen women face such violance, its all d time wen she is alone..or nt in d group..anyway i am always on time... i dnt like travelling much...i like 2 sleep at night....