BN Dehradun meet. Dec 13

First ever BN DEHRADUN MEET!
Location: CCD, Rajpur Road
Action Heroes include: Dhruv Bhola, Priyam Bhargava, Aviral Singhal, Amit Das, Prabal Pandey

photo credit: Prabal Pandey
Time keeper- Amit Das
Report writer- Priyam Bhargava
Meeting minutes- Dhruv Bhola

Meeting started at 15:05 hours. Placards were placed to identify the members which were received with weird stares by the cafe workers(Don't worry were not going to start off a protest march against the formation of Telangana).Here's how the meeting went.

1505 : Priyam, the script reader read out the objective of the meeting. The following from our group were identified as

15 10: The meeting started off with it's first exercise. Volunteers attempted to make an eye contact with a complete stranger and smile after the contact was made.We had our opinions to share.

Dhruv- "I made eye contact with this man sitting near our table because he was an easy

target. Apparently he was wondering what we were upto so it made my task

easy. Unfortunately, my smile was exchanged by a weird look.Obviously ,he didn't

feel comfortable and neither did I."

Amit- "I too found the same target.However, I met with the same result.I guess he didn't

feel comfortable with the staring and the smiling as well but he never found it

threatening.I felt uncomfortable carrying out the exercise".

Prabal-"I had the same target.He was an easy target.He didn't smile back just had an

awkward look on his face.He didn't find it threatening, just uncomfortable. I felt

uneasy"

(Later on we realized that person was none other than Aviral who was looking for

the BN volunteers.

Priyam-"I made eye contact with a girl about 25 years of age but when I smiled she looked

away.So I really can't say how she felt about it.

15 18 : Priyam continued with the script.Volunteers were asked to introduce themselves and give

their opinions of eve teasing relating to any incidents they may have experienced or

heard of,

Priyam- Priyam works with an NGO called the Latika Roy Foundation for children and

young adults with special needs. Her concern apart from that of every girl related

to eveteasing was sexual abuse of people with disabilities too.

Prabal- A student of BTECH from UPES , Dehradun he is perturbed by the kind of

harassment that goes on in the streets which are faced by not only women but

men alike.

Amit- Amit is a Law student from Gujarat, he got really concerned by eveteasing

when one of his own close friends got very affected by it.

Dhruv- Dhruv is in the Merchant Navy. His views were that eve teasing has been a

common topic of discussion amongst the people. One can never finish reading the

newspaper without finding an article about rape, sexual harassment or

misbehaviour with girls. Starting with small steps to create an awareness among

the people can make a major difference.

Aviral- Aviral is studying law at the Dehradun Law College.From his personal experience,

He finds it quite appalling to see the crowded buses in Delhi. For ladies it has

always been a nightmare..Having worked in call centres he feels Delhi will

definitely top the list when it comes to sexual harrassment".

15 45 :What are the words that come to your mind when we say street sexual

harassment/violence/teasing/intimidation?

The response was quite interesting.

PERVERTS,PERSONAL SATISFACTION,,FRUSTRATED PEOPLE,NO RESPECT FOR

WOMEN, A WAY TO VENT OUT FRUSTRATIONS,PRE-CONCEIVED NOTIONS, NO

ACTION AT HOME, HAS TO DO WITH THE UPBRINGING OF THE INDIVIDUAL……….

15 51 : What does Blank Noise mean to you/what are the words that come to your mind when we

say Blank Noise?

Prabal - NO NOISE

Aviral- EDGE CUTTING SILENCE

Amit - SUPPRESSED VOICES

Priyam- SILENT SCREAM

Dhruv - HELPLESSNESS

15 55 : Everyone drew a garment they believe girls experienced harassment in(for the boys) and

what they have experienced harassment in or have seen others expeience sexual

harassment in(for the girls).The drawings had the following responses:-

Aviral's - Aviral drew a short dress with the words NUN printed on it.He sure has a keen

sense of observation.Short dresses are asking for trouble from frustrated

wolves.However, to contradict this if a woman feels hot why can't she wear short

clothes like men wear t-shirts and shorts.

Amit's- Amit believed that even if a girl is wearing something ethnic or even jeans and

tees she will get sexually harassed.

Prabal's- Prabal drew a chest printed t-shirt, skinny jeans and mini skirts.Short clothes

means bulging eyes and through the roof testosterone levels.Again, one can put

forward the point mentioned above but Prabal had his own views when he drew

those clothings.

Priyam's-Priyam drew a salwar kameez.She too had the same opinion as Amit that how

much a girl is covered doesn't make a difference,having seen a friend of hers

encounter a terrifying experience.

Dhruv's- Dhruv drew a short t-shirt and a mini skirt.

1605 : The letters were read and discussed.

We live in a world where it has been observed that the character of a female is not a matter

of concern at all.Some see them as a source of pleasure,that's it.However, even if a female

has chosen prostitution as her occupation or as a dancer in a bar, when she is off working

hours and goes to say watch a movie or shopping, people have no right to harass her. As

mentioned in the letters, women are citizens who have the right to go wherever they

choose to. Another interesting point noted was that MARITAL RAPE is not a crime in

India.One would think that education can curb the situation but what about Shiney

Ahuja? He is well educated, comes from a good family and

unfortunately married.

1630 : I NEVER ASK FOR IT CLOTHES COLLECTION DRIVE

Event co-ordinator : Priyam Bhargava

Event co-ordinating team : Priyam,Aviral,Amit,Dhruv,Prabal

1640 : BEING IDLE WOMEN

16 55 : The team decided to meet again on Friday, 18th December at 1700 hours, venue

Barista, Indira Nagar being a more convenient location for everyone. To recapitulate,

everyone was satisfied with the way things turned out. Although we were just 5 of us, it

didn't discourage us. Next meeting, we've promised to get atleast one more volunteer

each, hoping to get a positive outcome then also.