A sigh of relief. Home safe and soundly!

By Michaela – Intern, Centre for Social Research

The dark scenery of the Indian capital is passing by as I travel towards the south of the city… the time marches on… it is already 8.30pm. I am silently swearing that I should have started my journey earlier just in order to avoid the darkness that has already settled over the city. I am vividly looking out of the window just to avoid the twenty pairs of eyes staring at me. The only thing that goes through my mind is that I want to reach home without facing any problems…

These kinds of thoughts cross my mind frequently as I am travelling by myself in the capital during the evenings. Being a girl from a small town in Scandinavia, where I am able to fearlessly move from place to place, I have found it very difficult to adjust to the fact that because I am a girl I should not move around the city late in the night by myself. There is always a fear of experiencing eve-teasing or other kinds of sexual harassment. Just the fact that a great number of people are staring at me, leads to that I am not feeling comfortable. Having faced eve-teasing, I know that it is better to be safe than sorry. Means being home early, if I am alone… this is sad, because Delhi should be a nice and safe place for both women and men during the night.

... An hour later… I am able to see the local temple next to my house. A sigh of relief. Home safe and soundly!