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I Am An Independent Woman & I’m Still Scared Of Delhi’s Auto Rides

I Am An Independent Woman & I’m Still Scared Of Delhi’s Auto Rides

I am a 23-year-old woman. I am independent. And I am also…scared.

Like scores of other women in Delhi, my day too starts with arguing with an autowala. Metro and buses aren’t convenient for the route I take and so I’m left with taking an auto, my default mode of transport to work. It is not that the auto drivers have a problem with the fare, in spite of being out and about on the roads, they just refuse to take you where you have to go.  

One day, I had to take an auto from Hauz Khas Village to my place and like always, out of the 10 autowalas present, no one agreed to go. I was so paranoid that I asked a police officer to help me out and well, he did. He made me sit in an auto and told the driver to take me wherever I want to go. That week, EVERY day that police officer helped me get an auto but then when one day he wasn’t around, I had no clue what to do.

Now that’s when it hits you.

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I stood there wondering what will I do? How will I get home? And so, I went and sat in an auto like the police officer had told me to. And NOT to my surprise, the auto driver refused to take me. Of course, I was furious and so I started questioning him and from what I could gather – he didn’t have a license, he wasn’t wearing his uniform and there was no meter installed in his auto, so he couldn’t go past the Green Park metro station which was hardly a couple of kilometres away (lest he was noticed by the cops). I decided to leave that auto and stepped into another one. This time, I knew I was not going to move until he takes me home. And after 15 minutes of if and buts, when he realized I was adamant, he agreed. And this is just one incident out of a hundred.

Internal Delhi Auto Rides

While I was doing all this, there was a part of me that was scared. I know I wouldn’t have done all this if it wasn’t in the daylight. I knew my safety was at risk.

Even when the police officer helped me get those autos, there was still a part of me that was scared. Because what if the auto driver agrees in front of the police officer but later, drops me mid-way. Or what if he misbehaves because I almost complained about him. What if he tries to do something that I’ll have no control over?

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All THIS at the cost of my own safety.

This is the everyday life of a middle-class woman living in the National Capital of India.

Having lived in Delhi all my life, I have always loved this city. But over a period of time, I have developed this sickening feeling that makes me want to run away from this place. I know I am not safe here.

I don’t own a car and I don’t have the luxury to travel in cabs every day – hell even cabs aren’t safe. This alarming state makes me realize that being a woman in India is always rife with consequences. For now, taking an auto is my only option.  

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And God, I wish I didn’t have to.

Images: Shutterstock

 

29 Aug 2017
good points

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