Anarkali Bazaar

#26: actually NORTH INDIANS have the same view. They think all foreign women are for free particularly white women.

mittarji,
even though mari is fascinated by burqas, and veils. she never dons one herself. : )

jawahara,
thank you!

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#21 by ana_dobarah
#23 by Jawahara

I was only speaking of my own experiences. I`ll take your word for yours. :)

btw I`ve been often to small towns and villages in my home state of karnataka, and hindu women do NOT wear long ghoonghats there or lead segregated lives... and I haven`t been harassed there either... the only place I`ve been harassed in the south is Hyderabad.

Like I said I haven`t been north much, and now I don`t want to go either. Maybe you should all think about moving down south. But don`t go to Hyd. :)

Regards.

noorie:
So mari is learning the harsh facts of life for a girl in the desiland.
Re. Anarkali, Karolbagh in Delhi is as close to the West Panjabi enclave in India as you can get. The refugees in 1947 from Lahore and other places set up their temporary khokha dukaans at Ajmal Khan Road and wanted to rename it Anarkali. By 1960s it had successfully replicated the ambiance, even dhake-baazi of Anarkali. One of the earliest khokhas belonged to Mahashian Di Hatti, refugees from Sialkot, who started selling dals and home-made spices. They gradually converted their spice-making into a large empire selling under the MDH brand.

What`s next for Mari, a burga to escape the street urchins?

Ana, this was simple and so well sketched and so very real. I have dealt with my share of this harrassment and it always comes as a jolt of violation. Totally changes the way you deal with the world in some ways.

Anuradha, I have been groped, harrassed whatever equally in all areas. India, whether Hindu or Muslim, is traditionally seggregated. Go to small towns, and while Muslim women might wear burkhas, Hindu women wear long ghoonghats and lead equally seggregated lives.

From Chandni Chowk in Delhi to Chowringhee in Calcutta (when I was just 8 and was my first experience with being groped) to trains passing through remote and rural areas, the one thing that was common was this harrassment. I don`t think I thought about it in communal terms. It was a repressed Indian male thing.

and please don`t misunderstand me... I wasn`t trying to start a hindu-muslim slangfest... sorry if i gave that impression. I was only trying to make the point that segregation of the sexes (which, if you are fair, you will admit is stricter in muslim societies) is what mainly causes this harassment

bmk

a woman is a delicate flower and without healthy poondi , in the sense you describe it, half of them will wither and die and other half will be in nut houses.

anuradha,
yeah, that attitude of `the women are asking for it` is rather old isn`t it?? and total bakwas. i read your observations and i hesitate to gauge this behavior by religion via muslim and non-muslim communities, because i think that segregation in various degrees happens in both communities.

sameeroo,
when i find something worth mentioning about desi males (must be hidden deeeep in the haystack), i will let you know. theek hai?

banjaara,
i hadn`t really thought that things would get much better. the perversion has always existed all over pakistan, but yes, it has gotten much bolder and much more threatening. i mean if something happens like when my sister and my mother got chased by these lafangas on mall road with onlookers doing nothing, then yes, there is a huuuge problem, and an increasing slide in morality.

feroz,
: ) perhaps you can round up some defensive tacklers for me, the next time i visit? thank you for your feedback!

and cheers to those all those whose names i`ve either forgotten or neglected to mention. your feedback is appreciated!

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#16 by Banjaara

Well no. I can`t say I`ve been up North much, at least not since I was a little kid. Perhaps you`re right. There might also be a basic cultural difference between Northerners and Southerners, irrespective of religion. On the other hand, both hyderabad and bangalore are southern cities, so why is there such a difference in men`s behaviour in the two places? That`s my point exactly.

Very well written. I can imagine what Mari [if she exists] went through, I`ve been harrassed in so many ways so many times that I`ve lost count. MOST Pakistani men never cease to disgust me [notice emphasis on most!]. What is even more disgusting is that it is no longer limited to bazaars like Anarkali, Icchra, Bohri Bazaar, but even in shopping malls as well. And what happens at concerts here is a whole new story. Shows that education actually doesnt make a difference, unless you don`t have a basic sense of right or wrong.

Ana Dobarah,
What you described happened many years ago, unfortunately, during the intervening period this perversion has expanded all over Pakistan and is more direct and more threatening, including grabbing at female derrier or the breast with nary a protest from the seeing blinds in and around the action. This further confirms tahmed`s contention. The continuing slide of our morality is ample proof of ``Talibanesque``philosophy being inculcated down our throats.

Anuradha jee,
I fully concur with your experiences in Hyderabad (with large Muslim population) and Bangalore ( with large Hindu population). I wonder if you have ever travelled in Delhi Buses where the majority of the population is Hindu, or shopped in the Palika Bazar or even in the Karol Bagh area, and I am not even mentioning Chandni Chowk or Jama Masjid or Nizamuddin areas. I also wonder if you have ever been to Varanasi, Ayodhya, Mathura or Prayag, which all happen to be in UP and are most respected places of Hindu Dharma.

I also agree with tahmed, ferozK and anuradha about the proportionality between seggregation of genders and publically harassing women. What else is new? Is there anything worth mentioning about desi male.....by desi female or......Urstruly?

thank you chowk editors!

freeyoursoul,
unfortunately more than just a few of us can relate. thank you for your comments.

t.,
i agree with your disagreeing with me. silence is definitely not always golden. but then some fourteen year old girls who experience such an attack from an unknown are left feeling confused as to what to do.

farzi,
when i read this to my fellow students/writers in my writing class, the only woman besides me in the class felt the `ending` should have been similar to what you suggested, while the men thought the `ending` was fine, and said quite a bit.
yes, it can hurt like hell. .and it did.

ally, dullabhatti. . .kiddan?!

anil,
i suspect there is quite a bit about delhi that would remind one of lahore. like sister cities. when i was watching monsoon wedding, and saw backdrops of delhi, i thought i was looking at lahore and anarkali chaat would make your day as well. will refrain from mentioning kababs...that`s veeresh`s domain.

azure,
hopefully the bansuree wala will forgive my having omitted him.

bspnd and regards....ana.

There is nothing in ANARKALI yet there is everything. Depends upon how YOU look for the things? oh my God! is it really that long to visit Anarkali, that I don`t even remember about the last visit. I guess, it was when I lost my EMT book and had to buy a new one from URDU bazar, that is just behind Anarkali.
hmm, Let me plan a visit to Anarkali, with friends, tomorrow. I may not visit, BANO bazar as, most of the stuff out there is related to ladies and one feel very ajeeb sa, there. :)

Lucky are the UETians, who are taken by their route buses, every evening to Anarkali and Liberty. I know most of them, just go on routes, for the sake of poondi.

Personally, I believe in poondi, only such that the one being poondified, doesn`t come to know about it. :)