We have 893 girls born for every 1,000
boys. We have crimes against women building up at the rate of 129% every year
and a conviction rate less than half of it. Bharat Mata ki Jai.
I’d like to relate an incident that occurred
during the days I was working in an IT company in Bangalore . After a weekend at home, I used to
return early Monday mornings by bus. These buses from Kerala usually reached at
dawn, around 5:30 or 6:00. Depending on the season, there might or might not be
daylight then.
One bright Monday morning, I got off at
Madiwala and was looking for an auto to take me to my hostel. An auto guy came
along and made the usual demands for a 1 and ½ fare. I agreed and got in. Soon,
the driver turned chatty. He asked me if I knew Kannada. I said no. He went on
anyway, talking endlessly and asking questions. I began to tense up, with every
cell of my body telling me that this guy was definitely not normal. I began
looking out of the auto, but there weren’t that many people about. I considered
jumping out, but it seemed risky. I was literally at my wits end.
Source |
Eventually, the driver reached my
hostel, though he parked a little away. I jumped out, sweating, and handed him
the fare. But instead of receiving it, he got ready to come out and take off
his clothes!! He was saying something, but all I remember was dropping the
money on the road and running with my bags towards my hostel. I think I could
hear him shouting, ‘Madam, madam’ from behind. I couldn’t sleep for nearly a
week after that. To this day, I haven’t told my parents about this. When I
think about it now, I wish I had Smart Suraksha with me.
Smart Suraksha is an android app that can
help you in such situations. Press a button to trigger an alarm that will alert
5 of your pre-chosen contacts, and also capture your location, regardless of
whether you’ve enabled GPS or not.
Can this app stop an attacker from
attacking you? No, but it can help you escape, and get others to help you. Your
contacts will know you’re in danger and can immediately take action, if one is
not available, you have four more. You can save valuable evidence, like your
location, information about a car number or a person’s clothes, a nickname etc.
Any information will be of use to track down a criminal – it doesn’t matter
even if you got away, he can be arrested just for trying to attack you.
Here are a few scenarios where you can use
this app:
1. Like the one above. You’re in a
vehicle and like me, don’t want to risk enraging the driver by screaming,
especially if you’re not sure there is anyone to hear those screams.
2. You’re waiting at a bus stop or
similar place and you sense imminent danger or are all alone.
3. You’re working late and there’s
hardly anyone left in office.
4. Your car breaks down in the middle
of nowhere and it’s late. It’s even risky accepting help at this stage.
I believe that women have a certain
intuitive power that signals us when danger is near. Considering we live in
such a technological age, why don’t we combine both these strengths and ensure
our safety? Get the Smart Suraksha app installed in your phone right away and
empower yourselves. Bharat Ma ki betiyon ki Jai.
The thing women have yet to learn is nobody gives you power. You
just take it. ~Roseanne Barr