I could feel the bile rising inside me...
I had read it in newspapers happening to other people.I knew Delhi and NCR is definately NOT the safest place for girls-but having spent my grads level in this part of the country in a campus and hanging out in groups made me live in a fool's paradise until...
17th July, 2005.Sunday
Time: 3:45 pm(Note: Afternoon!!!!)
Location: In front of Mc Donald's
Sector-18,Noida
(believe me ..one of the most crowded places on an otherwise leisurely sunday)
I was waiting for one one of my closest gal pals,alone.
I hate to wait but she's an exception.
I was debating whether to wait for her 5 more mins or to fetch the new Harry Potter book from Bookworld when a lady clad in a Salwar suit with cropped hair approached me and asked"Tumi Bangali?"(Are U a Bengali?) & smiled benevolently.
I nodded & she further queried-"Are you waiting for a friend?"
Another nod in affirmative.
"Has not come?"
Sideways nod ( Don't talk to strangers)
Out of the blue she asked me"Why don't u join me for a cup of coffee in Barista?"
What the...!?!
My fatal instinct told me there's something fishy.
I was feeling uncomfortable & my irritation was evident on my face..I could feel my jaws stiffen & eyebrows contract"No Thanks"
I asked her to leave me alone and went inside until I saw my friend come.
I was evidently upset and for the first time in my life- I did NOT feel safe.
The incident in itself was a trifle...but the implications were disturbing..
What was she?
A freak?
A lesbian?
A procurer?
(Trust me..her voice,her intonation did not suggest the kinderly attitude of an amiable lady who justs want to treat a young girl out of the blue...I have a fertile imagination most of the times...but...there was something definately sinister about her)
We are so blissfully unaware of most things happening around us..reality which has a parallel existence has no meaning until we see it happening to us...our near ones
This is not my idea of enhancing experience..But now I know..naiveness is a crime
I had read it in newspapers happening to other people.I knew Delhi and NCR is definately NOT the safest place for girls-but having spent my grads level in this part of the country in a campus and hanging out in groups made me live in a fool's paradise until...
17th July, 2005.Sunday
Time: 3:45 pm(Note: Afternoon!!!!)
Location: In front of Mc Donald's
Sector-18,Noida
(believe me ..one of the most crowded places on an otherwise leisurely sunday)
I was waiting for one one of my closest gal pals,alone.
I hate to wait but she's an exception.
I was debating whether to wait for her 5 more mins or to fetch the new Harry Potter book from Bookworld when a lady clad in a Salwar suit with cropped hair approached me and asked"Tumi Bangali?"(Are U a Bengali?) & smiled benevolently.
I nodded & she further queried-"Are you waiting for a friend?"
Another nod in affirmative.
"Has not come?"
Sideways nod ( Don't talk to strangers)
Out of the blue she asked me"Why don't u join me for a cup of coffee in Barista?"
What the...!?!
My fatal instinct told me there's something fishy.
I was feeling uncomfortable & my irritation was evident on my face..I could feel my jaws stiffen & eyebrows contract"No Thanks"
I asked her to leave me alone and went inside until I saw my friend come.
I was evidently upset and for the first time in my life- I did NOT feel safe.
The incident in itself was a trifle...but the implications were disturbing..
What was she?
A freak?
A lesbian?
A procurer?
(Trust me..her voice,her intonation did not suggest the kinderly attitude of an amiable lady who justs want to treat a young girl out of the blue...I have a fertile imagination most of the times...but...there was something definately sinister about her)
We are so blissfully unaware of most things happening around us..reality which has a parallel existence has no meaning until we see it happening to us...our near ones
This is not my idea of enhancing experience..But now I know..naiveness is a crime
9 comments:
Oh yeah ... ignorance is no bliss .. :D
We need to move from innocent ignorance of our childhood to disillusioned wise people as young adults and finally to innocent wise people to lead a blissful life.
Ummm...someone is deleting the comments here...
If I don't get to read it then ..what is the use..
if u don't want ur veiws to be public..plz mail me at aparna.kar@gmail.com
That was interesting! It would be an everyday occurence in, say, New York..and yes she would definitely have been a lesbian.. but this is still India!
Which brings me to my hypothesis that homosexuality alone will be responsible for curbing the world population. Its true.. come to think of it.. Its not that there are more gay people in US or UK. They are everywhere, there are some in your own neighbourhood. But they don't 'come out'. They get married and have 2 kids (thereby maintaining our motto - Bacche do hi acche), and then complain of a bad sex life.
50 yrs from now, even India will see a lot of 'coming out of the closets' happening, and there u have it! Population is curbed! The world shall replenish itself and be a better place again! (Though it'll be a bit creepy with kids having 2 daddies or 2 mommies!)
God has his own way of putting things right- see?
I deleted the first one - some spelling mistake stuff ...
hey...Apu, maybe you should relax a bit and consider that she could be....
4) a nice and warm person (and no end of such people) who generally just has to chat up Bongs/ ppl of their native tongue, no matter who they are and under what circs they meet!
but yup, you seen the eyes , and heard her voice, and caught her tone, and prolly you might be right...
But then, me firmly believes in innocent till proven guilty...
Oh and BTW Saurabh...dude been ages we mailed/chatteed..all my fault..but boss, 2500+ years of mostly no issues with homosexuality has'nt really cured India's population woes, has it??
Sorry to bump into the conversation. Just ran across your blog and felt strongly about this.
I firmly beleive that any random person on the street is as guilty or innocent as I am and hence try to apply the philosophy that 'Do onto others as you would wish them do onto you'. I have been burnt a couple of times by this but other times the results have been sparkling peices of glass in the labyrinth of humanity.
All in all I beleive that it's our responsibility to make this world a better place to live in. Not because it'll get me a nobel prize or make me look good and provide evening chatter with my 'friends' and make them see what a nice person I am. But for the small things in life which need so little to be done by me but make somebody's day a better one.
Sorry if all this sounds like a bunch of bull crap. Everybody leads life like they want to so Cheers!!
delhi is a lecherous city...
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