‘Ma'am, can you see that beautiful piece of work out there? Those are called the’ jharokhas’.’ I was listening intently to my guide in the Amber fort during my short visit to Jaipur. ‘These jharokhas were meant for the queens and other ladies of the royal family. While the ladies could see through them, people on the other side could not. So they could easily watch the proceeding of the court. It was not considered proper for the women to sit out in public…..’ As he went on to show me other parts of the fort where similar ‘conveniences’ had been created for women folk, I could not stop wondering.
What has changed since then? OR to put it better, has anything changed since then? Women had to keep themselves away from the public eyes then but even today when they step out they have to be wary of the same.
Walk for five minutes along any road on Bangalore (the origin of my recent experiences) and you will surely be delighting someone, be it a 16 year old ‘dude’ or a 60 year old diabetic. The fact that you are a female is enough. Enough for them to do almost anything that will make you wish you weren’t one.
Majority of them would break into a song. Till today, it never ceases to amaze me how they come up with the raunchiest of the song at just the right moment. They would dare not touch you nor have the courage to look straight in your eyes, so they prefer to use sound as a medium to get your attention.
But some of them do have the guts. And the more the guts the creepier it gets for you (i.e. if you are a woman). Morse codes are sent using eyes, lips, fingers or even the most unthinkable parts. Here are a set of people with all the right skills to become an uncover spies for India. Blame it on our employment policies. Sheer waste of talent!
The elite among these categories are the ones who can catch you off guard as you are trying to make your way in a crowded bus or market place, while they get away with a touch, brush or rub against you, shattering your personal space like a pack of cards. You frown at some, swear at some, shout at some and may be get hold of some. But it is always ‘some’. For the rest you blame your luck and then make peace with it. After all there are better things to do than teaching all the loose tongued species a lesson who somehow get the better of you despite you covering yourselves from head to toe, looking down while walking, avoiding dark & lonely lanes, traveling during day time.... the list is endless!
They have never changed and nor will they ever change. . So you need to change ‘YOUR’ ways, to keep away from those spilling over testosterones. Jharokhas were then and even today are, a way of life. Only now it is more symbolical. Today it points to a life that requires every woman to do ‘something’ that can keep off the attention of strangers (men) upon her.
P.S. - got this one while talking to my sweet friend Deepika! :)
