REALITY

       I anticipated there to be many unsafe places in Yelahanka if not during the day at least at night since there is a scarcity of street lights not just in alleyways or backstreets but also on main roads,and having heard tons of incidents that took place near PGs and being warned on multiple occasions to not walk alone, It came as a surprise to me that according to the locals there were no more than one unsafe place, that place being Attur village.
        We met supportive people, some "wise" who wouldn't stop talking, short tempered "gentlemen" who thinks entire north India is foul,a stubborn blemish on his home. On a lighter note,our first talking session took place with Bharti a lady with a particular set of skills, that will put  Liam Neeson to shame. with her koyta-
knife. She wasn't afraid of anyone.It took quiet a while for her to think of an unsafe place just to get us off her case. (kidding she is a sweet lady) she found Attur village and a place near the hospital a bit shady. "Rowdy boys lurk around that area,if not in proper clothing you are doomed" she says. The vada pav aunty( Suguna), Sri Ganesh and many more follow some what same answering pattern, they'll say its a safe area the first time you question but when you grill them a little further they mention the same Attur village, it almost seems rehearsed, to paint a safe picture for us just so we don't run away from this place. We had an endless conversation with auto rickshaw guys just outside the college. "This area is very safe because of the Hoysala police" says the driver with confidence. Other two stationed on the back seat add on to it by saying there are good and bad people everywhere from then on the trio start telling us back to back stories of robberies,Eve teasing,chain snatching,etc. the driver then hands us a check list ( not really) to get
in his rickshaw.
                          An ideal person
  1. Never smoked a cigarette ( will be ignored if you are of male species)
  2. Never consumed alcohol ( same as above)
  3. Covered from head to toe( why even bother, girl who fails to meet these requirements will not be permitted to sit in my auto,unless you have a lot of cash on you)



  "If you flaunt what you have it will be stolen" is what he believes.

 Tormented by hunger we made a pit stop at Ismail uncles shawarma place. Too concentrated in scarfing down his roll it slipped our minds to question him. Coming to our senses and trying not to act like savages we asked him what he thought of Srishti people, were we a nuisance? Grinning he replied "my shop runs because of you students if not for you I wouldn't be able to provide for my family, everyone wants specific ingredients in their roll, I have to keep up with it ,but I enjoy doing it nonetheless, students from N5 still come to this place even though it's far for them only to eat my roll" he says proudly puffing his chest
. He mentioned the area further ahead from N5 was unsafe and went on to add that a Srishti girl was cheated by a local boy some years back.

 We asked Padmawati and Vijyaamma both middle aged housewives about unsafe areas to which
they say "Our boys never smoked after 'srishti girls' started smoking even they followed" I think they
are distant relatives of that auto rickshaw uncle."great minds" do think alike!
 

  I agree that smoking is bad for your health and when you do it publicly it affects ten other people which is unfair to those people but blaming someone else for what your kids did is wrong. We will never feel safe if they still see us as outsiders and already make judgements of our character .We need to respect their culture to a certain extent if we are staying in the same community and they need to do the same.
       People are the same everywhere it depends on how much you come in contact with them. Every Sunday I meet the maids that come to clean our place, we just smile at each other do some hand gestures since language is a Barrier, but I don't have anything against them neither do they. We can live in same place without having to do much. Just be nice and have some respect it will be reciprocated.









         








     





After consulting with Jasmine we thought of asking men if they would feel comfortable with something like neon attack or will it be misused. The Mallya Aditi gurd was quick to reply that it will certainly be misused. we even asked some men working in our pg that ,suppose if a woman is walking towards them from the opposite side do you think that she is going to be scared of you or see you as an offender just because you are a man? one guy simply replied "I am not a mind reader"