Comments on BLANK NOISE: Bombay. March 15.

such a great site , with all the pics, all the com...

2009-05-28T17:38:42.692+05:30

such a great site , with all the pics, all the coments, the people's thoughts.

thanks

@Abhilash - that is precisely what the letter was ...

2009-03-24T01:37:00.000+05:30

@Abhilash - that is precisely what the letter was meant to do, to get you thinking. Get your friend thinking too.

The cops didn't help. The men standing around certainly didnt help. In-fact, I was approached after we had gotten rid of most of the crowd by a man who asked if he could get a picture taken with me. This is RIGHT AFTER this episode had happened. He was smirking the entire time.

It wasn't really 'bout the letter nor whether my ...

2009-03-23T20:56:00.000+05:30

It wasn't really 'bout the letter nor whether my friend was a victim or a voyuer.
What i tried to tell in the narration was about prejudice...of people jumping to conclusions...of the much hyped freedom or freewill or rather the lack of it.
It was 'bout people like me,who bogged down by prejudices dare not act upon their instincts.The letter didnot make me uncomfortable,it made me think.So... u keep being unapologetic.

Hi

Sometimes women instinctively suspect me...

2009-03-20T17:38:00.000+05:30

Hi

Sometimes women instinctively suspect men . many men I've spoken to are afraid of being labelled as someone out to get women.
That said,I was one of the girls giving out letters
Anyhow , some of the men who did respond to the letter wanted to know why them.

Personally when I gave out letters, i just gave it to people who responded to me in some way, people who might have stared in offensive ways or people who i thought would want to work with us
or think about the issue or people who weren't even looking at me or acknowledging my existence

I agree, the letter is randomly distributed but the intention is not neccesarily an accusatory one.
we distribute the letters to women as well
Perhaps Abilash you can tell us how the letter could have been differently written?

I absolutely hate it when men in India line up to ...

2009-03-20T15:58:00.000+05:30

I absolutely hate it when men in India line up to take pictures with foreign-looking female strangers, specifically white ones. I don't know what the stats are, but this has happened anecdotally enough that I believe it to be a regular occurence. It's a humiliation to the country and I'm sure the women at the centre of the attention would rather they weren't. If they are curious about foreigners in general, why don't they take say hello or take pictures with foreign men or couples as well? Does being in the immediate vicinity of a single white female stranger somehow make you a hero?

Having been in similar situations myself when I fi...

2009-03-20T04:40:00.000+05:30

Having been in similar situations myself when I first travelled to India, believe me, we don't know what to think. India and the behaviour of it's men are very confusing at first. Without knowing the sexual politics and climate of a country, the behaviour of it's men can be a mystery. After staying a while, speaking with women, reading books and newspapers, we finally figure out that no, these men are not acting normally, friendly or culturally acceptable for their society. Then we become aggressive in avoiding Indian men.

But at first it is very strange, very weird to be in India with no other women to guide us on what they consider acceptable behaviour for their men in public.

Woah! That's a heavy list of actions which one sho...

2009-03-19T21:02:00.000+05:30

Woah! That's a heavy list of actions which one should avoid to do. Personally I'm against eve teasing and I like this campaign. But as abhilash mentioned in the previous comment, his friend was given this letter by the girl when actually the girl was looking at him. So maybe abhilash's friend can be called a victim in this case. Anyways, people are bound to commit mistake. Maybe the girl was having the letters and wondering whom to give this letter to. She found someone ultimately. This can be proved by the chaiwallahs comment, "Iska toh roz ka hi hai". But we can't prove anything on the basis of mere statements. And in no way can a person take a female's side in this context just because she is a female because she's doing one duty which might change her mindset altogether. She can be against the entire "male domain".

Coming back to this post:
I really can't understand much of what has been mentioned as we really don't know how the men flocked around the woman. There is a lot of ambiguity. It'll be better if someone edits this post.
From personal point of view, I would say it would have been really embarrassing for the girl and if policemen were really there, they should have helped her.
I myself wouldn't have liked my girl friend, mother, wife or sister in such a position.
My Jortal

Hi,
I am sitting at the Gateway of India and do...

2009-03-19T20:39:00.000+05:30

Hi,
I am sitting at the Gateway of India and doin my chai-cigarette routine.I look-up,there's this girl handing out a letter to my friend.He looks up at her and gives her the " I dint do anythin, I don' know nothin ",look.She amusedly tells him 'Its just a letter'.He's still scared and looks sideways at me and i take the letter from her.
While i'm reading the letter the chai-walla comes upto me and asks whats in the letter and gives me a omniscient smile and i tell him to go mind his own business,which by the looks of it wasn't doin too well.Not being the kind who gets snubbed away easily he retorts "Yeh to uska roz ka chalta hai".I give him a nasty look that gets rid of him.
I finally reach the bottom of the letter but it doesn't really make much sense.My friend snatches the letter from me runs his eyes down and goes "Balls,theres no number", and throws the letter back at me. I got down to readin it again,this time with more zealous and looked up for the "just another girl" .She had already passed me by on her way back.My friend told me that she was lookin at me for some kinda reaction.I looked out at the sea and felt the kinda feelin in my stomach which i feel whenever i feel helpless.I sat there a few minutes tryin to think some deep-shit,but deep-shit ends u up feelin shitty.So i wanted to get outta there,so we get up and start walkin away.
For some reason, my friend mentions about some scene in 'Dil Chahta Hai' where Saif gets mugged.I tell him please.. but his lewd comments continue...

Well, the girl in the yellow dress. I think she wa...

2009-03-19T17:42:00.000+05:30

Well, the girl in the yellow dress. I think she was just this tourist who i presume landed in india pretty recently.She was part flattered, part amused, part uncomfortable by the amazing amount of attentin these crowds of men gave her by taking chance to take pictures with her.

You can't choose when you get attention and when y...

2009-03-19T12:16:00.000+05:30

You can't choose when you get attention and when you don't. I mean, a lot of times, you aren't asking for it and you get lots of it. It's mighty uncomfortable then.

But coming back to the girl in the yellow dress, I'm sorry, but I don't understand what exactly was she trying to do!