Just another usual Sunday evening, on the road lot in the crowds of MG road and what struck me was a line of women in front of the Motorola Arcade it made on sense to the on lookers but it did look like what they were doing made a lot of sense to them.All I wanted to do was be just another on looker and walk past and get my work done and return home just a few steps further-a woman in the crowd walked up front handed me a folded piece of paper-unfolding it all i expected was "Loose weight in 2 days" or "Sale! Sale!"-but my expectations were let down for good. I saw a letter written as follows-

Dear Stranger

Is there any girl who lives who has not been harassed on the roads? I think not. Probably the first time I was harassed was when I was 11 years old. I can still recollect that day when an old man in a motorbike stopped me in the middle of the road when I was walking back from school,in the pretext of asking me for directions.No sooner had I given him directions (not a word of which he heard), he told me, "Don't You think you are too young to have breasts?" gesticulating towards mine. I was horrified. Before I could even scream out "Bastard" he had sped away. I remember going home that day, falling on my bed and crying all evening. I didn't have courage to talk to anyone about it.For an entire week all I could think about was that horrid old man. You know what was the worst part of being harassed when you are too young is?

You are not indignant
You are not outraged
Instead, you feel ashamed.
Humiliated and ashamed of YOURSELF.

You will see me. I'm the girl standing by the railings. If you know what i mean, come and stand with me by the railings on the road anytime between 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. You can stand with me as long as you like.

Sincerely,
A girl

A few step further another folded piece of paper, i thought it will be the same story even before i could refuse it it was in my hands-on opening it I was wrong again. It was different but the same.It read-

Dear Stranger

Age 8: An old male hand between my baby legs.Dirty.Shhh

Age 11:Walking on the road. Man grabs cousin and kisses her on the lips. She cries. I get a fever out of fear.

Age12:Crowded Street.Walking with my mother. Fast accidental brushes between my legs.
Staring, Groping, Touching, singing lewd songs, pinching, stalking, eve teasing, humiliating

Age 18:Vacation in Dharamshala-On a long dreamy trek in the hills, far from the town. A man in the middle of the forest calls out, is masturbating, asks us to participate.
Humiliated frustrated, Hurt, silent.
AND YOU?

You will see me. I'm the girl standing by the railings. If you know what I mean, come and stand with me by the railings on the road anytime between 5:30 to 6:30 Pm. You can stand with me for as long as you like.

Let's reclaim our space.

Sincerely,
A girl.

Goosebumps raised on my skin, everyone has been through the same, everyone who opened up to me dreaded their childhood, the memories. Yes, the humiliation and oh yes the SILENCE!!! Standing by the railing a first step? Distribution of emotional out pours on paper- a first step. I applaud for the women behind this action, the first step at last!!!

With all due respect, what change will standing by the railing do? What change will we make by telling each other stories of horrors that was born out of exploitation of weakness caused by innocence? While we stood by the railing somewhere there would be another girl going through this grotesque feelings that can never be expressed through her limited vocabulary because she is too young.

How long will we hide behind the veils of so called "culture" at the stake of our children's innocence, at the risk of permanent mental damage to the children's lives. In the land where on the outside the word "SEX" is a taboo and behind it all is the ghastly sights of evils like prostitution, trafficking, child abuse, organ trade, molesting, incest....Why is it that the lie called "culture" is used only when it come to the matter of disciplining the child, why not to discipline the crooks or to wash off the evils off the "cultured society"?

Throw the conventional ideas of keeping your child safe. Lets face it, no one is ever safe in this world. Always have your guards on and put them on young for your children.Lets educate the children, inform them about the world out there in that way we are building up the foundation for a society that is open and well-informed.They deserve to be told their rights. No one has a right to force them to do anything or hear anything. Children are the easiest prey to such evils only because of their blissful innocence which is brutally murdered with such encounters. We rather inform them and give their innocence a chance and their age some credit.

As for women, we must stand strong and let not the factor of women alone being the prime enemies of each other let the cunning men exploit us. Shoulder to shoulder we must fight, we must live, we must protect each other for each other.

Let the men know,let your husbands know, let your boyfriends know, let your father know, let your uncles know and most importantly let the hooligans on the streets know that even if we might have taken it long back our nieces and our daughters will not take it. We will stand to support them even for the smallest insult.