Why loiter? group in Jaipur kicks off in style!- Neha Singh

I was in Jaipur last week and met Mita Kapur,an extremely talented and respected literary consultant. This was my first meeting with her, organised by a common friend, to discuss a project that we are working on. When I reached her palatial house (understatement) I was intimidated. I had already visited her website 'Siyahi', the literary consultancy that she spearheads. But when I met her, all my apprehensions flew away. Her warm and cozy office was filled with young women, all busy working on various important projects. We began chatting over coffee and that's when my friend, Dhruv Lohumi, suggested I tell this young and bright bunch of women about 'Why loiter? Mumbai'. It often takes me about twenty minutes to explain the concept and the movement to people but Mita and her colleagues understood the value of it within a couple of minutes and told me that it was a wonderful idea. A few minutes later, Mita announced that she would love to start a similar movement in Jaipur. The other women in the room agreed unanimously and before my very eyes, they began brainstorming and were ready with the plan for their first loitering session that Saturday.

I met Mita only for a half hour, but I still knew that she would bring the idea alive, with complete conviction.

Today I received a mail from her with this little story explaining how their experience was, complete with little anecdotes and heartwarming moments. When I saw the photos, my heart danced with joy. So many women, all vibrantly dressed, looking beautiful and armed with guitars, goodies and what have you! This is their story, as told by Mita.

So 20th January evening at statue circle - its cold and windy, a start up NGO to teach kids from economically challenged stratas is holding a candle light vigil to share the tragedy in Peshawar and we reach to just hang….
just walking around the circle, Nandita pointed at Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh's statue to tell us that the scroll it was holding was cut off because it looked like his phallus jutting out...*giggles*

We grow from two to eight to thirteen and finally to about twenty five women - all ages, a school girl from Welhams, bridge players from Chennai, post graduate students from Raj university strumming on her guitar and singing old songs (my generation pop), some more walk in…Ritu and Neeru try to teach us all how to whistle like men do when we walk past…we talk, giggle and in all the bonhomie, anuja comes with freshly baked date bars, ritu (number 2) with roasted peanuts - just what we need to keep it going - we walk around, talk to people just generally who are also there to walk. in true spirit, Megha and Kanika decided to scale the statue which prompted a few shrill whistles from the guard asking them to get down...

some more walk in who are visiting from Bombay…

We are there for a about an hour and a half….Radhika Jagwani says "in truly believing in what we are doing here, I am going walk back home and not call my car." off she goes. Fifteen minutes later she messages, "a guy on a bike started chasing me, I had to call my husband to pick me up" - her home was barely half a km away. Devyani, who couldn't come but is heavily into cross country running and cycling also messaged on the group saying "I was chased this morning while I was cycling"

Jaipur as a city is just another small town where men think its their birth right to tease women

our next loiter should mostly be on Christmas.

We maybe in different cities, but we are all of the same sisterhood, a similar desire. The desire that one day all roads, parks, bus depots, railway stations, movie theatres, road side tapris, highways, hotels and homes will be safe and free and inviting for women to roam and loiter peacefully.  Now hoping more such groups start in other cities as well. 

Raahgiri and Equal streets: new steps to reclaim space- Neha Singh

It first started in Gurgaon, on the 17th of November 2013. Raahgiri was a unique concept evolved by organisations, individuals and the public administrators to make the city more public friendly and culturally alive. 'Apni raahein-apni aazaadi' and 'ab na chalegi motor koi ab chalegi sabki raahgiri' was the tagline and true to it, Sunday mornings became a riot of festivities, all about freedom and reclaiming public spaces like the roads and streets. Men, women, young and old woke up early to come together and run, walk, cycle, skate, practice yoga or aerobics. Traffic would be closed off temporarily to let citizens enjoy the streets and roads on foot.
http://raahgiriday.com/about/

The event picked up so well that the Delhites couldn't wait to start something similar in Delhi. So apna, very own Cannaught Place, the hub of all recreational and shopping activities in Delhi, was chosen as the venue for Raahgiri, Delhi.

https://www.facebook.com/RaahgiriDayDelhi

Raahgiri, Delhi chapter started on the 13th of July, 2014, in collaboration with the Times of India group with this tagline in the newspaper 'Want to shed some festivity weight?' but since then has become much more than that. I was in Delhi last month and couldn't wait to be a part of this crazy idea on Sunday. The November morning chill in the air was perfect and I dragged a friend along. It was still dark outside when we bundled up in jackets and warm socks and reached Cannaught Place at 7:00 am. I was ecstatic to see thousands of people there, in sports wear, uncles and aunties, teenagers, kids, couples, families, grandparents, all chirpy and energetic, running, jogging, cycling, skating, playing basketball, volleyball, cricket, badminton, doing yoga, aerobics, palates, dancing. It was probably the most encouraging and happy space to be in in Delhi, ever. There was a bunch of youngsters sitting on the road. Couples moved around holding hands and PDAing, but it was all accepted wholeheartedly, even by the octogenarians. Overweight men and women dressed it tight track pants were doing yoga or jogging on the traffic free roads and no one noticed. There was a sense of camaraderie,  trust and acceptance that is quite difficult to find in Delhi otherwise. There was absolutely no eve teasing, staring or discomfort.

Raahigiri Delhi

Raahgiri Delhi

Raahgiri Delhi, people practising Yoga

Reclaiming the roads, literally.

Inspired by the bunch on the road, I parked myself on the road too

Just as I was secretly wishing something like this start in Bombay, I got a whatsapp from Sameera Khan, one of the authors of the book 'Why loiter?' telling us that Bombay, the Mumbai police, the MCGM in association with Times of India and other organisations, is starting the 'Equal Streets' on the 9th of November, 2014. On the first day, 15,000 people showed up on the streets!

Some of the members of Why loiter?, our group, had already visited the event on Sundays and raved about it. I was itching to get back to the city and visit it. I did so last Sunday .

The reclamation starts at Santacruz and goes on till Bandra linking road. I began walking from the start point and walked past two yoga workshops, hundreds of children skating and cycling, tables set up on the middle of road and people playing carrom. A young girl sat on the road and was painting, not on a sheet, but the road itself, while her father looked on lovingly. Further ahead I witnessed a percussion workshop/drum circle in progress, with the artists facilitating regular people into creating a group rhythm with various percussion instruments. There was a Shiamak Davar dance workshop going on too, with his students facilitating. The experience was exhilarating.

Equal streets, Bombay

Similar sightings in Bombay, great minds think alike

Drum circle, Bombay

Equal streets, Bombay

Why loiter? Priyanka and I at the Equal streets, Bombay

Why loiter? at equal streets, Devina and Pooja

The inaugaration fiesta at Equal streets, Bombay

 http://embarqindia.org/equal-streets-launch-mumbai-sees-overwhelming-community-support

Since one of our Why loiter? group members, Archana Patel was performing the same day at another every-Sunday-affair at the farmers' market at Mahim nature park, I visited the market, The park was huge, lush green with hundred year old trees and the quaint little market was in progress. People stood in queue with bamboo baskets, browsing the vegetables, fruits and other products completely organically made and picked up whatever fancied them, to pay at the end of the queue. There were also food stalls with brownies, sandwiches, bhelpuri, coolers, etc that people were eating sitting on white garden chairs.

Farmers' market, Mahim, Bombay

Why loiter? Sanoober at the farmers market, Bombay

Enjoying the Sunday afternoon at the Farmers market

Shopping for organic veggies at the farmers' market, Bombay

My friend began her play performance as part of the NSPA, National Streets for Performing Arts, and it was the first ever play performance as part of the NSPA. NSPA is also a new venture that is meant to reclaim public spaces for the performing arts and have had several music concerts. This was their first play in a public space that was open for all. It was a lovely play about the balancing act that the new age modern yet traditional woman faces everyday.

http://www.nspa.in/

Why loiter? Archana performs with Samridhhi as part of the NSPA at the farmers market, Bombay

National streets for the performing Arts put up a play at the farmers market, Bombay

Just as I was daydreaming about the day when all streets in all of the country would have such raahgiri and Equal streets events, I read a facebook update by my cousin Anu saying she was going for the raahgiri event in her hometown, Bhopal!!!

https://www.facebook.com/RaahgiriDayBhopal

and then I chanced upon an article about raahgiri in Dwaraka.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/events/delhi/Dwarka-people-enjoy-at-Raahgiri-Day/articleshow/45403282.cms

I am waiting for an opportunity to go to Bhopal and take part in the raahgiri day there too! Sometimes I feel we are unlucky that we are born in times of so much violence, paucity of free and open spaces, deforestation, inflation, mistrust, pollution etc etc and then I experience these wonderful movements towards reclamation of public spaces and people embracing them with so much vigour and value, that I feel extremely lucky to be born in these times.

Our group 'why loiter?' started in June this year as a natural progression to the book 'Why loiter?' and aims at loitering in public spaces by women, to reclaim them. And then you hear of movements like Raahgiri erupting in Gurgaon, Delhi, Mumbai, Dwarka, Bhopal and your heart is just so joyful. These spaces make the community come together with a sense of trust, peace, love and togetherness regardless of gender. which is why these movements are so important in the process of bringing about a change in people's mindsets about gender related issues in our country and reducing violence against women.

Next time you find yourself wondering what to do over the weekend, instead of booking a table at the buffet brunch place, pick up your running shoes, set an alarm for six a.m, and get on the streets and feel the joy of running along hundreds and thousands of people, people that are part of your community, your city, your nest. The feeling is indescribable.

How I escaped rape- Neha Singh

I was still a student at Lady Irwin College, Delhi University. My father had been posted from Guwahati, Assam to Agra, Uttar Pradesh. I was happy that now I wouldnt have to travel 36 hours to reach home, since Agra was just a few hours away from Delhi by train. Holi, the festival of colours was coming up and I had a sizeable chunk of holidays from college. So I decided to visit my parents at Agra. Since it was a rather impromptu decision, I had not booked my train ticket. I just packed my bag and reached New Delhi railway station, hoping to get a reservation in current booking. Alas! At the current booking counter there was a queue so long that if I waited for my turn it would possibly take my entire lifetime to reach the counter. I wanted to get on the Taj Express that left at 5 pm and it was already 3 pm. I confidently walked up to the counter, hoping to get a ticket through student concession or some such luck.
'Sir, is there any way I can get a reserved ticket for the Taj Express?', I enquired, with the most innocent and pitiable face I could make.
The middle aged officer in the typical black coat looked me up and down, smiled and shut the counter. I was surprised at this, but didnt think much of it since the urgency of reaching home in time for the festival was far greater than analysing his behaviour. After all, he was an employee of the government, in uniform, with a name plate, and therefore, someone to be trusted. He asked me to follow him into the office at the back. At first I was hesitant, but when I saw a few women staff sitting in the office and working, I felt reassured.
'Why do you have to stand in the queue? You should have come to me directly instead of standing in this heat', he said sweetly. I was grateful but also a little vary of his biased treatment towards me. He asked me to give him my details and 250 rupees. Then he called one of the other officers, also in a black coat, with a name plate, and much younger than himself, to go to the reservation counter and get me a reserved ticket for the Taj Express. The younger officer muttered under his breath, clearly upset with his senior's differential treatment towards a young student as opposed to the neverending queue of people desparately standing since unearthly hours to get that one, reserved ticket.
I knew this was odd, since neither was I a politician's daughter, nor was I offering a bribe. But I was only too happy to get this unpredicted help from otherwise indifferent government officers. Just to make sure the old man didnt get any bright ideas, I told him I will wait outside the office for my ticket. I went and stood out, hugging my bag and tightly holding my newly acquired cellphone. As I had expected, the old man came out of the office and started making small talk.
'Where do you study? Where in Agra do your parents live? Why are you going home?' etc.
I lied to him about my college, told him with a lot of effect and emphasis that my father was a colonel in the Indian army. It didn't seem to have any effect on the man.
I started looking the other way and playing games on my phone, only to make it clear that all I needed from this man was my reserved ticket and nothing more.
'Will you have some tea or coffee?' he asked me politely. I said no.
He went back in, and then reemerged after a few minutes. I quickly pretended that I was on the phone with my father, giving him details on the train, how I had been lucky enough to meet this 'good samaritan' that had helped me out with the tickets, I even read out his name from his name plate and told my dad, making sure the officer knew that if he tried any tricks on me, my father would know who it was. The situation was getting claustrophobic for me and in a way I was at his mercy since I needed that ticket. It seemed an eternity before the young officer showed up with my ticket.
I checked the ticket. It had my name, a seat number, and 250 rupees was the fare. I couldnt believe my luck, I finally did have a confirmed , reserved ticket in my hands that too without bribing anyone. Now, I was really thankful to both of them and started to leave. The old man stopped me.
'Check the ticket carefully. It is okay, right?' he asked me.
'Yes, sir, thank you so much!'
'Come, let me accompany you to the train so that you dont get lost', he offered
Why on Earth would I want this creepy old man to accompany me when all I wanted at that moment was to get as far away from him as possible?
'Sir, you don't worry, I will help her', the young officer said with a lot of authority in his voice. The old man seemed taken aback by his sudden interference.
'Oh, okay, alright. Make sure she sits in the right place.'
The young officer and I started walking away from the creep.
'Thank you' I said to him. That 'thank you' was not just for accompanying me, but also for getting rid of the old man. He understood exactly what I had meant by that 'Thank you'
'He is not a good fellow. You should never get in touch with him again.' the young man said sternly.
'Yes, he seemed really creepy' I said.
After that the young man didnt say anything to me and just walked beside me till we reached the Taj Express. In my head I thought, for every dirty old man in this world there is also a good man, who makes sure you stay out of trouble. I was lucky that he had helped me escape the old man.
We got on the train. It was choc a block with people rushing home in time for Holi. I found my seat. I sat down and extended my hand to shake hands with him, thank him and say bye.
'You haven't kept a bottle of water. I will just get one for you' he said.
Before I could stop him he had run down.
What a chivalrous man! I thought.
He came back with a paper glass filled with thums up.
'Sorry, this is all I could get' he said.
'Oh, thank you so much, I was really thirsty, infact!' I said and gulped down the entire contents on the glass.
I felt like I had downed an entire bottle of whiskey. Thats when I knew what a big mistake I had made. My eyes felt droopy, my entre body seemed lifeless and I could barely manage to keep my neck from falling to the side.
The young railway officer had drugged my thums up! As soon as he saw the effect the drink had had on me, his eyes changed. He grabbed my arm and started pulling me.
'You arent feeling well, lets get off the train. I will take you to the hospital.'
I grabbed the iron bars of the window and inspite of extreme grogginess I knew that if I let that iron bar go, it could very well be the end of me.
The man kept pulling me, his eyes looked like those of a vulture's ready to attack the weak prey and he kept shouting at me, incomprehensible to me in that state of delirium. I felt my grip loosening. I tried looking around me for help, I saw blurry images of men, women and children, I tried to open my mouth and say 'help' but there wasn't enough strength left in me to utter a word. All I could think of at that time was my impending rape and murder if I let myself get off the train. I mustered up all the strength left in my body and grabbed the iron bars with both hands, while the officer tried pulling me. My eyes were shut now and my mouth parched. But my hands stayed loyal and didnt let me die.
The train began to move, cruelly slow, and the officer tried a last attempt to pull me. Then he got off the train and let me go. I opened my eyes and saw his evil face staring at me from the outside. Thats the last thing I remember, because I fell into such a deep sleep that my mother had to nudge me violently at Agra station to wake me up.
'How can you sleep like a log, without a care for your luggage on a train alone? she asked me.
The events of the day came rushing back to me and a shiver went up my spine imagining all the possibilities had I got off the train. I didnt tell my parents anything about the episode.
When I got back to my college, I confided in a classmate about the incident.
'Its your fault', she said, 'why did you have to take a favour from the officer and why on Earth did you take that drink? Don't you know you should never take anything a stranger offers you?'
I believed what she said to me. I believed it was my fault. I believed that I made a mistake by trusting government officers in uniform. I did not tell anyone about this for a decade since I believed that whatever had happened was because of my own foolishness and naivete.

Answerable question - Devina Kapoor

Been away for a while now, from why loiter, city and life in general. Kept me thinking of how small we are when looked down upon from universe. I, wandering in a park am going to make a difference in the world, well guess not. Fully doubtful about the stand I took 5 months ago. The amount of time and efforts devoted to the group felt useless. Fortunately or unfortunately, in the company of people who asked me this simple question- why loiter?

Guess what- I was out of answers.

After reading the stories people posted on the blog, the amazing video by Shawn Lewis and (after a very long time) meeting one of the most courageous and inspiring woman in my life, Neha Singh. It kept me thinking the same, why loiter. Everybody in our group has different answer to it. For someone its social chilling, independence for someone may be. What was my answer, my motive?

Coming from a small town, to me Mumbai looked like a giant animal with lot of limbs, scattered all around. People running here and there and lost. Lost in gaining something even they don’t know. I remember my very first local train ride in rush hours for a job interview. Life never looked scarier to me. With the little strength in me, I actually survived the journey and train ride became a usual thing, to the extent that I got used to pushing and pulling. On such usual day, with ladies coach full of perspiration and high pitch voices a girl grabbed me with tears and fear in her eyes, asking for help to get down at the next station. I could see a weak me in her. That me, who if the other day didn’t get the courage of making it to the end, would have looked like her. From that day onwards, I never lost that courage. Its always with me.  

All these thoughts made me come to a conclusion. The answer was always there, I just didn’t realize it.

Its very simple – why not loiter.

This city has many sides to it. When it gives you fear, it gives you way to gain courage. If it gives you anger, it has its way of cooling you down. It surely gives you pain but just so that you can find love. And to explore all that, you have to loiter around. 

Our first film- Neha Singh

Last Saturday we celebrated five months of loitering in the city. We loitered post midnight at Shivaji Park, Dadar and also made a small film. Here it is.