Living in the 21st Century you are a well read strong woman, why do you need feminism I was asked… 

well for starters equality isn’t such a bad thing I replied. 

Yes, but don’t you get tired discussing it ALL the time! This is all you ever seem to be concerned about. There are other pressing concerns out there you know!

Well because it IS happening ALL the time. Every time I walk down till the metro station I am actually never walking alone. There are a gazillion stares following my steps, walking with me. Stares of not only men but women too! Judging perhaps the length of my dress, or wondering if my gait is too confident, my spirits too uplifted, my nature too ‘bold’. It happens all the time in the crowded metro ride when someone ‘accidently’ decides to brush his elbows against my breasts or when someone accidently of course falls on me. And well nothing seems to be as pressing as my basic right to exist then!

Why don’t you raise your voice then? Are you not aware of your rights!? I thought you were taught better than that!

Well I have tried that too. But more often than not you are put down by those voices criticizing your every move or telling you to just stay in your designated spot ‘the women’s compartment’ why do you not stay there? That ought to be safe! Or why wear a dress that short? It sure attracts attention!

Yes, that is indeed my safe space, like all the other safe spaces I am ushered to-  the kitchen, the inside of a burqa, behind the purdah, inside the 4 walls… when will indeed this lockdown end!