Apu’s World

Yesterday afternoon, I was sitting at one of the Coffee Day outlets in Indira Nagar meeting two clients (also women) for the first time. As we sat discussing the project and sipping our coffees on the outdoor patio, I was suddenly conscious that there was a group of about 7 men standing on the pavement, right beside the outlet. My first thought was that it was just a bunch of guys hanging around, perhaps waiting for someone. But then, as time went by, I realised that they weren’t moving. And they were a bit too old to be college kids - perhaps in their late 20s or early 30s. What were they doing just standing on the pavement for so long?

It is some measure of the climate the recent attacks have created that my thoughts immediately went to the outfit I was wearing. Jeans, long sleeveless shirt. Great. Just the kind of thing attackers targetting Western clothing might be looking for. Almost immediately, I felt silly. I mean, a bunch of men stand around on the road and one gets suspicious? Yet, part of me wouldn’t push the possibility away. After all, by now it was almost 10 minutes since these men had been standing there. And from time to time, they would look at us. Was it just the regular ‘checking out women’ or something more sinister? 

Though I was meeting these two clients for the first time, I decided to voice my fears. It hadn’t occurred to them, but once I said it, it didn’t seem implausible to them either. But, we told ourselves that it was unlikely and that we should just carry on with our meeting. After all, since they weren’t doing anything particular, they would probably leave in some time, right? 

They didn’t. Time went by - another 10 minutes, then another 10. We gave up all pretense of working. From time to time, one or two of the men would turn and glare at us. By now, my stomach was churning. What if they were just waiting for us to step out so that they could attack us? They weren’t carrying any sticks or other weapons, but from time to time, they would make calls on their cellphones. Were they recruiting a larger crowd? And in any case, 7 of them against 3 of us would be no fight. Even as I told myself that I was being absurd, part of me was petrified. It was now more than a half hour since they had been standing around, now openly looking at us. 

I believe that all of us must protest in some way against the kind of hooliganism that has been unleashed in Karnataka. I’ve been fiercely angry about the way my city is deteriorating. Yet, faced with a potential situation like this, I felt like a coward. All I wanted to do was run away, not attract attention. Of course, there was also the fact that getting beaten up wouldn’t be any kind of protest! We wondered if we should call the police or the Vanita Sahayavani, the helpline for women. But, what would we tell them? A bunch of guys on the road are glaring at us? Finally, I called my husband who works nearby. So did one of my clients. As we waited for them to arrive, we wondered if the men would leave. More than 45 minutes since they had first landed there, they still didn’t. 

Our husbands arrived. We left, in the safety of a car. Nothing happened. I felt like I was leaving the fight - a fight which never happened, a fight that was perhaps only in my head, and yet, something I felt I should have put to the test. Because, by leaving, I had given them (not these men specifically, since they may have been harmless, but the fundamentalist groups in general) one small victory. They had disrupted our work, made us wonder if we should have met elsewhere, wasted our time and taught us to fear. That is no mean achievement, isn’t it? 

apu Women & Feminism

The activities of the Rama Sene and other such Hindutva outfits in Karnataka, parade under a “love” of Indian culture and a desire to prevent Westernization. In reality, whatever their views on Indian culture, these organizations indulge in violence both because they know that they have (tacit) governmental support and because they perceive that large sections of the population support them in some way or the other. Throw a stone, and you will find someone who says, yes, they shouldn’t be attacking people, but Should girls be dressing this way? Is pub drinking really necessary? Aren’t we becoming too Westernised? Shouldn’t youngsters be focusing on their education instead? , not realising that none of these is the real issue. 

We may or may not be becoming too Westernised. Young people may or may not be drinking too much. The truth is, these are just issues being used by these outfits to promote their agenda, which is, to gain power by creating a culture of fear, exploiting some of the class and religious issues that are lying dormant in society. The ugly truth is that a lot of people fear the rapid empowerment of women that has happened within the span of two decades. Unlike the ‘good, old days’, many women now refuse to let others tell them what they should study, where they should work, what they should wear, how they should spend their leisure time, and most importantly, who they should marry. Of course, we need to keep in mind, this ‘many women’ is still not a majority; nevertheless, it is a highly visible minority, and to the Hindutva groups, a threat that needs to be ‘put in place’. Why? Because ‘our women’ are the so-called pride of the community, and they will continue to be a pride only if they conform to the ideal image of the Bharatiya nari; if not, the entire community is ‘disgraced’. 

The truth is also that in parts of Karnataka, there are issues between the 3 major communities - things are not hunky-dory. Influx of money from the Middle East (which I hear is mainly from Christians and Muslims working there, though correct me if I am wrong, since this is more something I’ve picked up from people etc) has created problems - jealousy, rivalries etc. Such conflicts are a convenient handle for Hindutva groups to exploit, combined with a growing fear of Christian Missionary activities and othering of Muslims due to global Islamic terrorism. 

There are also class issues. The last 10 years have seen an unprecedented rise in incomes, but, only for some people. This isn’t a rebellion of the poor, but certainly, the complete difference in opportunities offered to someone from a Kannada medium and someone from an English medium school, especially in a city like Bangalore (increasingly, even a Mangalore and a Mysore) cannot be missed. The large numbers of under-educated young men who pass out of state-run Kannada medium schools and cannot access the better colleges that will lead to the better jobs - are they not a ready recruitment base for these fundamentalist groups ? The resentment they feel against ‘outsiders’ is there for the power-hungry to exploit. This, we have already seen happening in Maharashtra. 

All of these of course have implications for women, especially for urban, affluent women who are in some ways what the Hindutva brigade would most like to control. Attacks on such women are more visible in the media, giving the attackers more publicity. You rarely catch the fundamentalist groups lecturing women in slums on how they should behave - indeed, it is not uncommon to see women from lower income groups casually smoking bidis, something an upper-class woman would think twice before doing on the street. In a sense, the Hindutva brigade would like the upper-class woman to stick to their templatised version of the Bharatiya nari - for this is the woman who is to ’set an example’. Wealth is aspirational, and if one can bind wealth into a straitjacket, so much the better. Not that fundamentalists may reason out strategy in this fashion, but instinctively, they know whom to target. 

And this templatised version can then be showcased to everyone else, held up as an example or even a requirement. This has already begun - in some colleges in Karnataka, Muslim girls have been harassed for wearing the burkha to college. So, on the one hand, the Bangalorean girl who wears Western clothes isn’t Indian enough for them, but neither is the Muslim who wears a burkha. It comes back to everything conforming to the narrow template of the Indian woman that they have built up, and in this template, the default is Hindu, so naturally, burkhas are out. The idealised pattern of Indian womanhood will gradually be rolled over to everyone who doesn’t already conform to it. 

Already, many of us have started wondering - is it safe to wear jeans? Is this top too short? Isn’t it safer to have a drink at home than go out to a pub? Perhaps, in smaller towns, Hindu girls may also be wondering -Should I talk to a Muslim boy in public? This is the first victory for fundamentalists. They make us question our own behaviour, even when we know that we are not doing anything wrong. We are scared because we know that, should something happen, there will be people, perhaps even among our friends, who say, But, wasn’t it unsafe to have worn something like that? Don’t you think you should have had some men with you at such a late hour?  In other words, we know that even the sympathy we get will not be unconditional. From here on, it is easier for the fundamentalists to make it seem as though this is the norm. After all, what can be so bad about curbing drinking? After all, what can be so bad about promoting Indian outfits? After all, what can be so bad about preventing Muslim girls from wearing the burkha; isn’t it oppressive anyway?*

Not until we recognise the power-hungry nature of such groups and deny them any excuses for violence, can we reclaim our freedom. Class issues, religious issues, issues of migration, issues of opportunity and livelihood, issues of modernity, issues of Westernization - all make the recruitment drive of the Senas (whether in Karnataka or that of the MNS in Maharashtra or similiar groups elsewhere) much easier - but these are not the “reason”  for violence. Ultimately, the desire for power and a world-view which sees violence as a valid option is, and the sooner we recognise that, the better. 

* I do think burkhas are oppressive, whether imposed by social norms or chosen by the individual - I don’t agree with the basic reason behind them. However, I would still champion any woman’s right to wear one of her own volition. 

apu Other Social issues in India, Women & Feminism