I have been harassed countless times…on my way to school/college/work, on the bus, in the train, while shopping, with friends, alone…. Like every other woman.
Today’s incident, however, disgusted and angered me more than usual because one of the perpetrators looked like he was just 12 or 13.
I was walking to the bus stop and was on the phone when two guys on a bike—one who looked like he was in his 20s and the other, the adolescent—slowed down…the elder one leered and asked ‘What’s your name?’ while the kid grinned, clearly enjoying himself. I abused them loudly in English and in Hindi but that didn’t stop either of them from grinning. They stopped a little ahead of me and kept looking back at me so I marched up to them and asked them what the fuck they thought they were doing. They then took off, not very fast, and the elder one, clearly trying to bluster it out, asked loudly what my problem was/what was wrong in Hindi. I was standing on an elevated part of the road—they passed by a third time, through the lane next to the main road and the elder guy had his middle finger high in the air and said “Take this.” I leaned over the boundary wall separating the lane and the main road and told him to go fuck his mother (inappropriate? couldnt think of anything else).
The kid was still grinning.
They didn’t come back a fourth time, though I had my pepper spray in my hand, ready to spray if he so much as reached out. And in retrospect, I know I should have tried to get his licence plate number, so that I could have lodged a complaint. I’m a journalist with one of the biggest media houses so I am quite sure the police would have taken action. The way they were dressed, I think they live in the same neighbourhood and I’m hoping that I will be able to report them the next time. I keep thinking of the kid though…what kind of a monster will he grow up into, with someone clearly giving him lessons in eve-teasing. I’m still furious (a little with myself for not having taken down the number).
Do you think I could have done anything else differently? I am not very strong, physically.
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