RIP, the bindaas Mumbai girl!

I’m fearless in Mumbai, am I? Gauri Ghadi wonders

I am a bindaas Mumbai girl.

I am a bindaas Mumbai girl who lives all by herself.

I am a bindaas Mumbai girl who works late into the evening with little to worry about. 

I am a bindaas Mumbai girl who steps out in the middle of the night for a cup of coffee or a drive with her girl friends.

I am a bindaas Mumbai girl who hops into an isolated train compartment without even thinking twice.

I am a bindaas Mumbai who slips into whatever she is comfortable in; wears whatever she lays her hands on without wondering if 'it's appropriate'.

I am a bindaas Mumbai girl who goes out clubbing with her friends and is not really bothered about how to get home after a fun night out.

I am a bindaas Mumbai girl who never depends on her guy friends to drop her home.  

I am a bindaas Mumbai girl who sits admiring the city skyline on Marine Drive till way past midnight. 

I am a bindaas Mumbai girl who always thinks that she is more empowered than that poor girl from dangerous Delhi.

I am a bindaas Mumbai girl who has an upper hand in the heated Mumbai vs Delhi debate with just one snarky quip: ‘Can’t even get out of your house post sundown, can you?’

I am a bindaas Mumbai girl who always shuts people up saying, "This is Mumbai. It can take care of its women. This is Mumbai. It's the safest city in the world."

I am a bindaas Mumbai girl who has been in love with Mumbai despite its chaos and commotion, for its care and compassion.

But then I wake up to the sordid story of a photojournalist being gang raped in central Mumbai around sundown and I shudder. I begin to think...

I am a bindass Mumbai girl who has become wary of that pizza delivery boy at her doorstep.

I am a bindaas Mumbai girl who has been touched inappropriately in the middle of a bustling gully; too shocked to even react, leave alone retaliate. 

I am a bindaas Mumbai girl who has been eve-teased.

I am a bindaas Mumbai girl who has felt prying eyes upon her in a crowded train compartment.

I am a bindaas Mumbai girl who has been stalked.

I am a bindaas Mumbai girl who cried after the Delhi rape, but reassured herself saying, “This can NEVER happen in my city!’

I am a bindaas Mumbai girl who was wrong.

I am a bindaas Mumbai girl who has been seething at the violation of the dignity of a fellow journalist and has had sleepless nights since then.

I am bindaas Mumbai girl who feels helpless today. 

Am I a bindaas Mumbai girl?

NO! I am just a Mumbai girl who thinks she is bindaas. Mumbai is no longer the Bombay I grew up in. Mumbai no longer makes me feel safe. Mumbai is not far behind Delhi.

Thank you Mumbai for those bindaas times. They will be missed.

RIP, the bindaas Mumbai girl!

Image: A woman takes part in a protest against increase in rape and sexual crimes

Photograph: Reuters