[ This post is one of the top 15 posts chosen by BlogAdda for the Contest. Details here.)
Sad it is. But it’s a truth too
- that we live in a country that wakes up to the news about women harassment
and problems day in and day out. And even after all the uproar, all the
rallies, all the candle light marches, every single day something or the other
happening in the country makes your skin crawl.
Somewhere a woman is raped,
somewhere else a child is brutally killed after the animalism on it,
somewhere a woman hears catcalls behind her, somewhere a woman has to keep
adjusting her dupatta to avoid filthy gaze of men around and
everywhere these women harbor fear in their hearts. As a woman, it feels like
loss of my right to live without any kind of fear. Yes, my very fundamental
right of being a human being seems to be at a loss.
I stay in Ahmedabad. Thankfully, I haven’t come across any unfortunate incident
myself, but who hasn’t heard about them. After all, considering today’s
circumstances, no place in the country seems to be a safe haven for women.
So what do we do? Stop going
out and stay within the confines of our homes. But then, is safety guaranteed
within our own homes? I guess not. I told you. It’s the loss of my fundamental
right of living without fear. But, haven’t you heard, ‘Change starts from
within.’ It sure does. If nobody helps, can we ourselves not help ourselves?
Can we not stand for ourselves? Can we not take our steps? We can. So, given
below are some safety tips I can hand around to my fellow Ahmedabad women. But,
I guess, looking to the situation this country is in, any safety tip handed
down could work anywhere.
Creatively pursuing, I am
putting down the list of smart tips (in no particular order of importance) starting with the letters of my city - Ahmedabad. I know you
would have noticed, but why take chances ;)
Ahmedabad
|
Alertness
always works
|
AHmedabad
|
Hold
Hands
|
AhMedabad
|
Make
smart choices
|
AhmEdabad
|
Educate
|
AhmeDabad
|
Decode
the surroundings
|
AhmedAbad
|
Access
to Safety devices
|
AhmedaBad
|
Being
brave
|
AhmedabAd
|
Activate
those vocal chords
|
AhmedabaD
|
Do
not be a show-off
|
A – Alertness always works
Remember, the times
when your mom told you to be alert all the time when you were young. Ladies,
this works even today. May be more now. So whether you are hopping on a rick
during late nights or just walking down the road, let those grey cells be
active always. Nobody, but you can sense the danger first. We are great with
sixth sense, remember? Trust it. I know, Ahmedabad isn’t a place to be worried
all the time, but it’s always better to be safe than sorry.
H – Hold Hands
I do not mean
literally holding hands.. jeezz.. By holding hands, I mean ‘Support’. Yes,
support fellow women when they are in trouble. Meekness doesn’t work in today’s
times. So next time, you see a woman being troubled by some miscreant or an autowalla
haggling with some girl in distasteful manner, go stand by her, fight him along
with her. Atleast make a call to the police if matters run out of hand. Chances
are that others would join in as well. I know people of Ahmedabad are very
helpful of women in such times. They would join for sure.
If this helping
others keeps on happening time and again, I don’t think determination of a
handful of dirty minded can last against the goodwill of thousands.
M – Make smart choices
I know we are smart
;) but how about having some smart gadgets on our smart phones installed.
Something like Smart Suraksha App that could be used so easily and
effectively.
Now, Google has
done a great service to womankind by inventing Google maps. Use them when you
are travelling to a new place. Don’t just sit inside a taxi and let them take
you for a ride. Ask the driver to take a particular route seeing the map just
to let them know you are well equipped.
How about keeping
the phone numbers of some key people on speed dials? I know we all have them,
but in times of urgency, these things tend to slip out. Just thought of
reminding!
And yes, do not
forget to keep ICE numbers. Don’t know what’s ICE numbers? ICE stands for ‘In
case of Emergency’. Just store a few important contacts beginning with ICE. May
be having ICE numbers is not a very popular phenomenon, but, God forbid, if
anything untoward happens, atleast the people who would know about ICE can inform
about your condition to right people.
E – Educate
Yes Girls,
education is the key in here too. Seems education is the key to everything ;)
So, anyways, by education here I mean, making women around you aware of the
possible dangers and ways to fight them off. (You are free to read these tips out
to them. I know, I know its shameless self-promotion, but couldn’t help it)
And by women, I
don’t just mean the women in your family. That young girl who comes to clean
your house, your watchman’s daughter and even your regular sabziwali
gets counted too. Of course, we would tell our daughters to be safe and teach
them ways for it, but what about those unprivileged who haven’t been taught by
anyone from their families. Don’t forget them. Hand them some safety tips too. They
might in turn share your tips with their friends in villages or small towns
from where they come. I bet you would be doing some a lot of good ;)
D – Decode the surroundings
If you are going to
the parking lot of those malls alone, make sure, you are not distracted by your
phone while walking down. Check your car before entering it. And once you are
inside, drive off immediately. You can check your make up in the mirror later.
Some such practical tips can help ward off potential danger.
I am sure you would
have heard about letting your whereabouts know to your family on the phone once
you get inside a cab or autorickshaw so that the driver wouldn’t play around.
You might as well be doing that. But at times, in a huff-puff we might forget
using a language that the driver should be able to understand.
Don’t just rattle
away in your crisp English accent or your mother tongue about your whereabouts.
Use a language you know the local driver should understand. If you are
travelling out of town and you are not sure, ask the driver himself what place
exactly you are and then speak it in the phone.
A – Access to Safety devices
I know that you all
know about carrying a bottle of pepper spray or a deodorant or a small Swiss
knife so they could become our guardian angels in distressing times.
But, there’s a
catch in here. As our trademark trait, we carry huge bags where things once
lost can hardly be found. I know, I know, we can’t change that. But having such
devices in our loving bags and not being able to find them on right times would
be so unfortunate. Isn’t it? So, the least we can do is keep these safety
devices in some small pocket of our bags which can be easily accessible. One
small crevice in that large bag which should not be stuffed with anything else
except for that life savior instrument. Not a big price to pay. Right, girls?
And yes, I saw a
video of a campaign called ‘Seeti bajao’ under which women carry a whistle
which can be used to drive off those hooligans. Seems so effective, isn’t it?
But remember, the golden rule – keep it accessible. How about keeping that
small whistle in your jeans pocket? If your purse gets snatched off, atleast
you would have the whistle to alert people around.
B – Being brave
At times when we
actually need it, all the bravery and other such blah blah inside us goes into
hiding in the Himalayas. Natural it is. But if we stuff the positivity and
bravery inside our minds, possibility is that it won’t ditch you last minute.
Train your brain to
act quickly under not-so-easy circumstances. Cook up some harsh incidents
inside your brain and also plan a way out the mess. I know this sounds like a
crazy advice but trust me, it works. It works when needed.
How about learning
a few tricks of self-defense? May be master a kick or two to be used in case of
emergencies! Atleast a basic course could help the grown-ups if you are not
prepared to take a full-fledged one.
And for your little
princesses, it wouldn’t hurt to enroll them for learning karate along with
those salsa classes, won’t it? After all, it isn’t a bad idea to teach our princesses
to be warriors when needed.
A – Activate those vocal chords
Yes, girls, shout
out loud. The moment you sense danger, use those vocal chords to the maximum.
If you are being harassed in any way, raise your voices, literally. Raised
voices deter the confidence of miscreants.
D – Do not be a show-off
I know Ahmedabad is
running the race for becoming a buzzing, happening city. People are changing. We are changing.
All good. But in this race, we might be inviting troubles. How about keeping that
bragging about all the shopping you did at the new AlphaOne mall or the pricey food
you enjoyed at The Grand Bhagwati all by yourself atleast when you are taking a
cab or any public transport? How about keeping heavy cash and valuables out of
sight from maids, drivers or such other people? I am not saying they can’t be
trusted. They can. But why lure troubles? Why take chances? So isn’t it sensible
to be sensible and not be a show-off?
Okay, so these were nine safety
tips I could connect. And coming to the last but not the least, all I would say
is:
Life is too short to experience
everything yourself. So learn from experiences of others. (I am not
being philosophical suddenly) What I mean is that there are so bloody many
instances happening around us; don’t turn a blind eye to them thinking they can’t
happen to you in a city like Ahmedabad. Accept the fact that misfortunes can
hit any shores. Even ours. From every instance you read or hear about, don’t just
whine over the situation. Try to gauge the nuances of the smartness that might
have avoided any unfortunate incident that happened to others. Learn.
After all, it’s all about being
Smart, isn’t it? ;)
