She started off by writing incidents, talking to people, and taking their interviews. She started observing interactions around her, and watched how people reacted to certain things.
I love my city. But there are things I would like to change about it. I will share three parts of an impromptu social experiment through which I would like to point out the man/woman equation of the city. Part One is an experience which involves Yours Truly, Part Two is an experience involving C, and in Part Three, both C and K are present.
As far as my stand goes, I am pretty much for this. In fact, when she begun talking to strangers, I encouraged it wholeheartedly. People should meet new people everyday. And if you notice, C has no such issues about the social status of the people she meets.
About Part One, it was actually not planned at all. I was at Spanish Cafe with both C and B, and we decided to walk to Park Street to see the Christmas Carnival. The day was probably a Saturday. I grew up feeling very self-conscious of my body, as I was a late bloomer, and then the curves had been at all the wrong places. It was only later when I realized that people, especially men, stared. In fact, I am absolutely sure, that every woman who is reading this post has been acutely aware of the “Gaze”, both male and female. After a while, I ignored them. I walk straight, my head tall, and my posture strong, and that day, while my friends were right behind me, I had put on my Mp3 player, and was listening to the music. When I reached Park Street, they told me that they have been counting the men who were staring at my breasts, and had recorded the varying reactions they had.
I have absolutely no clue what their reaction was. Call me clueless, but I am genuinely not very aware of people around me unless I want to, and in this case, I had blanked them out. The street was my personal prowling zone, and everyone else did not matter.
For the three parts of the experience, follow the links –
1. Social Experiment Part One
2, Social Experiment Part Two
3. Social Experiment Part Three
And I will leave you with a picture of my face on that day at Park Street after the walk.
