{"id":374,"date":"2008-02-21T07:51:02","date_gmt":"2008-02-21T12:51:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kuma2.net\/skyeview\/?p=374"},"modified":"2008-02-24T09:49:26","modified_gmt":"2008-02-24T14:49:26","slug":"dispatch-14-bombay-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.kuma2.net\/skyeview\/?p=374","title":{"rendered":"Travelogue – Bombay, India"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gender Notions-Between A Rock And A Hard Place<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"gender_cover_1.jpg\"<\/p>\n

The plight of women and girls in India can only be described as between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand women from middle class and affluent backgrounds are encouraged to pursue their ambitions without regard to their gender. Women can be found amongst the ranks of physicians, engineers, and even airline pilots. I have the impression that as long as a woman gets married and bears children her professions is of little consequence. I find it extremely odd that high level academic administrators, government officials and the like privilege \u201cMrs.\u201d in their titles before all other titles they may hold including \u201cDr.\u201d, \u201cCommissioner\u201d or even \u201cThe Honorable\u201d.<\/p>\n

The predicament and treatment of women and girls in the lower castes becomes even direr because they may carry the burden of the caste and perhaps a darker hue. Illiteracy influenced by patriarchy and misogyny can literally make for a deadly combination for many women in this country.<\/p>\n

I have observed Indian children of both genders of varying backgrounds and caste fawned over and doted on by their parents and family members with such affection to a degree I don\u2019t see in the states. But make no mistake about it male children are highly prized and femicide and foeticide in some parts of India have reached epidemic proportions.<\/p>\n

\"bombay_6.jpg\"<\/a>\"gender_cover_3.jpg\"<\/a><\/center>
\nIt seems the primacy of males is taught from birth. While searching for educational toys for a group of Mahim district youth<\/a> whom I first visited in 2005 and who seem to have adopted me in 2006, I spotted this children\u2019s book for young children learning to read<\/a>. Judging from the cover of the book I presumed it would appeal to both boys and girls. Imagine my indignation upon noticing the invisibility of girls in all the subject areas. But to my absolute dismay the section on word opposites included this photograph illustrating the difference between beautiful and ugly.<\/p>\n

\"gender_cover_4.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Nuff said.<\/p>\n


\nSafe Passage To Bombay And The Kindness Of Strangers<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"sp1.jpg\"<\/a>Travel in India is not for the feint hearted or rigid of mind. One must be willing to endure delays, unpredictable public transportation schedules, and disruptions due to political unrest. Though this is my 6th annual trip to India I am still challenged by the lack of English speakers in this former British colony and illiteracy of many of the auto rickshaw and taxi drivers.<\/p>\n

Foreigners are advised to hire drivers and take transport designated for tourists to insure ones safety and delivery to local and regional destinations. I also advise travelers to make a show of writing down taxi numbers and coach license plate numbers and whenever possible informing hotel staff of your itinerary.<\/p>\n

\"license.jpg\"<\/a> Due to language difficulties and what I suspect was a hustle by the auto rickshaw driver who picked me up from the hotel in Pune and tried to deposit me with one of his confederates. I was not able to locate the pick up point for the Jet Airways coach for the return trip to Bombay.<\/p>\n

I had been directed by the hotel staff to get the coach in \u201cPune Station\u201d which turned out to be not an actual station but a very busy roadway where passengers purchased tickets from vendors sitting in grimy little huts, with all manner of shouting, bettle nut chewing and spitting.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t want to cause myself to become more of a spectacle than I already was standing on the side of the road with my laptop case, Samsonite luggage, and wool coat all necessities for my trek to Paris. I decided to initiate my own personal outward-bound experience by purchasing a ticket for the regional coach taken by the locals to Bombay.<\/p>\n

\"sp2.jpg\"<\/a>Unlike the sparsely filled Jet Airways non-stop coach with security doors for the passenger compartment, refreshments and bottled water, the local coach was packed to the brim with only one seat remaining and no frills. As my good fortune would have it my seatmate Mr. Shetty turned out to be my personal guide and protector. During the course of our conversation I learned that Mr. Shetty a very kind fellow is a film actor; his wife and daughter pop singers. He was in route to a city outside of Mumbai to a film location.<\/p>\n

Mr. Shetty kept reassuring me that I would make the 5-hr journey without incident and arrive safely in Bombay. He gave me timings and instructions for disembarking, and for good measure he gave me his mobile number, talisman cards depicting Lord Ganesh for protection and a promotional photograph of his wife. \"sp3.jpg\"<\/a>He told me his wife is very popular and I could show her photograph to any policeman in Mumbai and they would assist me by phoning the number on the paper!<\/p>\n

He seemed almost embarrassed when I extended my heartfelt thanks to him as he prepared to exit the coach.<\/p>\n

Other passengers on the coach kept a protective eye on me too, but there really wasn\u2019t any need because I was amongst fellow travelers everyday folks just trying to get from one point to the other. No drama.<\/p>\n

Jai Ganesh!
\nJai Maa!<\/p>\n


\nSexual Repression and Sexual Assault<\/strong>
\nLesbians take heed because fucking a man might be the very last thing on your mind, however in the eyes of some Indian men you may be perceived as a promiscuous woman from the west.<\/p>\n

Frankly, the sexual immaturity and sexual repression of Indian males in general frightens me. As is the case in Mexico one should not expect the Indian police to be of much assistance because in many cases they are the culprits of molestation and sexual assault. Thanks to the influence of MTV videos and Hollywood movies that depict women engaging in wanton sexual activity within the first half hour of the film many Indian men believe western women are promiscuous and easy picking.<\/p>\n

A couple of years ago when I took an overnight train from New Delhi to Allahabad I had to accept the assistance of my sisterfriend\u2019s male cousin. He purchased my train ticket for me, made a show of escorting me on board and insured that I was deposited safely in my single sleeper berth.<\/p>\n

Shortly before the train departed two middle-aged gentlemen occupying a double berth across from mine assured him that they would keep a watch out for me, and they did the entire 12-hour trip, they assumed the role of protective uncles. Believe me when I say I did not let my lesbian feminist stance prevent me from accepting the kindness of all three men. Nah mean!<\/p>\n

I had abandoned the Allahabad trip the previous year because I was so distressed d by all the news accounts of bandits and sexual assaults on the trains.<\/p>\n

The jackass in this article had the audacity to molest a 26-year old Australian tourist on a train! The photograph accompanying the article is stock photo.<\/p>\n

—————————————<\/center>
\nIn The News<\/strong>
\nSunday Times Of India, Mumbai
\nFebruary 17, 2008<\/p>\n

\"news_article_08.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Jaipur: An army personnel was accused of molesting an Australian tourist on board the Jaisalmer-Jodhpur Express on Saturday and was arrested. Naib Subedar Attar Singh was apprehended by the government railway police at Jodhpur and charged with molesting the 26-year old tourist when she had gone to use the toilet at midnight in the AC 3-tier compartment, police said.<\/p>\n

Singh, who had gone to the toilet at the same time, blocked her way in the passage between the two toilets and molested her. He quickly locked himself in one of the toilets as he saw the coach attendant approaching.<\/p>\n

The attendant, who had seen what was happening, informed the traveling ticket examiner, who, in turn, summoned the guard on duty.<\/p>\n

Singh, who had locked himself in the bathroom, refused to come out. After 10 minutes, when the guard threatened to break it down, he came out and was hauled over to the railway police.<\/p>\n

Police have informed the military police of Jodhpur about the episode.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[2.17.08 sw]<\/p>\n

India Photo album<\/a><\/center><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gender Notions-Between A Rock And A Hard Place The plight of women and girls in India can only be described as between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand women from middle class and affluent backgrounds are encouraged to pursue their ambitions without regard to their gender. Women can be found amongst […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-travelogues"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1c8Xx-62","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.kuma2.net\/skyeview\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.kuma2.net\/skyeview\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.kuma2.net\/skyeview\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.kuma2.net\/skyeview\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.kuma2.net\/skyeview\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=374"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.kuma2.net\/skyeview\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":907,"href":"http:\/\/www.kuma2.net\/skyeview\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374\/revisions\/907"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.kuma2.net\/skyeview\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.kuma2.net\/skyeview\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.kuma2.net\/skyeview\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}