Holi is difficult to survive. Consent matters even less than it does on other days. I cannot count the number of times I have had water balloons land on my butt or my breasts.
I am outraged at hearing that some of the students of LSR had semen-filled balloons thrown at them. In solidarity, I want to share a video of me dancing to a poem I composed for women who have decided that they will remain steadfastly in public spaces, despite all threats. My form of protest is articulated through Bharatanatyam.
This was performed as a part of the ‘I Will Go Out’ campaign – a collective that stands against sexual harassment and misogyny, and to reclaim women’s rights to safe public spaces.
It was particularly empowering to dance at the spots where my friends and I have been harassed many a time. Through my dance, I sought to drive home the message that we refuse to be chased back into our homes.
When I joined LSR in 2014, there were many male friends who told me that there are songs sung about LSR women in several men's hostels across the country. "Kudi LSR di", for instance, is a rap I have heard and it is based on how “desirable” women from this Delhi University college are.
I have come across hundreds of reports and videos on the internet that project students of LSR as an attractive combination of good looks and good brains. LSR women are constantly fetishised and fantasised about. It is also imagined that women who come here always wear make-up, branded clothes and step out of fancy cars. I obviously do not have any problem with any choices that any individual woman who goes to LSR makes. But this homogenisation of the college’s student community ignores women from marginalised communities who study here.
I have seen women from my college work long hours, return home late, get assignments done, organise events and balance co-curriculars and internships with academics.
I have seen brave, fierce and irrepressible women from diverse backgrounds inside my college. I have seen tremendous disagreements and heartwarming friendships. These fantasies about us cannot comprehend us as people who have choices to make and battles to win everyday. They are shallow, misleading and incorrect impressions about us.
We encounter patriarchy not only through cultural stereotypes, but are also sexually harassed, catcalled and masturbated in front of, on a regular basis. The area around our college is notorious for men masturbating, and it becomes downright terrible during Holi.
When I was in college, I remember how we would fear going out. We would not venture out unless it was an emergency. The hostels and PG's where my friends stayed put out circulars forbidding women from going out, shamefully embracing the idea that women are to be protected and the only way to ensure their safety in our society is by controlling their movement.
We, however, refuse to be chased back into our homes.
(Tirna Sengupta is doing her Masters in English at the University of Delhi. She enjoys both creative and academic writing. She is currently working on projects that try to make Bharatanatyam more egalitarian and inclusive.)
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