Living in the Rape Capital Of The Country

It was a couple of months back, i decided to move to Delhi. It was an impulsive decision (as i always say) or rather i didn’t have a choice as my other option was going home forever. I didn’t want to go home, not this soon. Talking about Delhi, the city terrorized me. The very first thought was it being the rape capital; innumerable rapes, murders and so on. Be it media or a word of mouth, the image of Delhi scared the hell out of me. I thought every guy wanted to rape me. When i told my friends about moving to  Delhi, they too told me how badly i am going to regret this decision in my entire life. Some even believed that i would come back to Bangalore within a month or two. I thought so too.

Oh! How easy i thought it would be to start from the scratch. It was last December i moved to this city, when the brisk chilly weather would leave my feet frozen for hours together. Slowly the frozen cold winters paved ways for the summers to creep in and yet, i was with no friends, money or job. I didn’t have much knowledge about the places around so I barely stepped out of the house, unless it was with my brother. And who am i kidding? I live with four guys (including my brother) and that made it more complicated for me. I was in terrible need of a girlfriend with whom i can share everything that’s going on in my life. This phase made me a big fan of Sam Smith. How i felt that every song of his was written for me. Every passing day, i would sulk more into my sorrows, not sharing it with anyone. Such a depressing phase in the life of a social butterfly like me……..
One fine day i woke up and said to myself that things cannot and shouldn’t continue this way. So i decided to find a job. Travelling by metro in Bangalore is a piece of cake and the only time i used the metro was while going to Whitefeild for shopping. But metros in Delhi was a complete different story. Rajiv Chawk was no less than Kumbh Mela for me. It gave me an impression like, ‘this is the last five minute of your life, what would you do?’, so people rush to make the most out of their last 5 minutes. First time i took a metro, it took me almost half an hour to change from yellow line to blue line. And poor me!! I wasn’t aware of the separate cabin for women travellers. Like a sheep following the herd, i wend with the crowd in the general compartment. And suddenly, i felt a hand slowly creep in through the crowd and squeezed my ass. It all happened at a fraction of a second. I turned back to see who it was but it was so crowded and every guy looked decent enough not to do that. I was angry, sad and frustrated. Though there had been certain instances of flashing in Bangalore, but never before had someone touched me this way. The whole journey, i had tears in my eyes and i just couldn’t wait to reach home and cry out loud. So many things were playing in my mind.

Why would someone do that?

For what joy would someone squeeze an ass that flat?

Like really, dude what were you thinking?

With that instance i became more careful while travelling, be it metro, auto or any other means. And i did fetch my self a decent job (which i didn’t like and eventually ended up quitting). Things were getting back to normal. Somewhere in between I got introduced to ‘The Beatles’and they walked hand in hand with me to make my life better. It was one fine day when i woke up to the song “Let it be” and i never looked back since then.

I still had very few people to call friends. So i came on tinder.

Yes, Tinder!

And no, i didn’t and still don’t use it as a clichéd dating app. I have met really interesting personalities through tinder and some good friends too; friendship that i would like to take it to my grave.

However the whole point is, i realized that not every guy in Delhi wants to rape me. Not all of them call me a chinky or whistle or pass comments when i walk by their way. Even in metro i came across people who would fight for the right of others who is more in need of the seat than any one else. All these little things, restored my faith in the city. I stopped questioning and started believing. They say, when you concentrate more on positive aspects, then all good things follow. Maybe, now that i have found my true passion for travelling, I have found hope.

Oh Delhi mi love!!! Guess I’m falling in love with the most hated city. If only you could look at it through my perspective, you too would fall in love with this city .