The rape of the young girl in New Delhi on way back from seeing a movie on a moving bus, last December generated a groundswell of emotion among many women in India—the country’s very own Pink Revolution. Not just because of the merciless nature of the crime but because harassment of women or eve-teasing as we call it in that part of the world is something every woman who travels by public transport has lived with.
Studying and working in Bombay for the first many years of my life, I dreaded the daily commute. Armed with little more than a thick book, stiletto heels of my every day footwear or the pointed end of the umbrella during the monsoons, I waited for the inevitable.—a brush, a stroke, a caress, a squeeze—before resorting to whichever sharp object at my disposal that day to teach the offender a lesson he would not forget. If only I had known of Mace!
Hearing of the horrific incident in Delhi last year, and given my penchant for fantasy not to mention particular partialness to superheroes in general, I wished there was a female vigilante, a robo cop who would roam the streets of the city teaching these frustrated males a lesson they would never forget so they would think many times before distressing yet another female of the human species. Now thanks to Ruby Iyer we do.
Meet Ruby Iyer
Born of a conversation with ukasiaonline founder Poonam Joshi, Ruby’s story starts out like that of any young woman making her way to work on a Monday morning in the megalopolis that is Bombay city. But when she is groped on the local trains and tries to protect herself she is pushed onto the tracks. Recovering from the accident, she finds she has been granted super-powers and becomes a vigilante sworn to protect women from the daily harassment they face on the streets of this megalopolis. Things take an unexpected turn when she meets the man of her dreams. Will he accept her real identity?
To read the first in the instalment of Ruby Iyer’s story in this flash fiction series go to #BombayShorts. Do sign up to the weekly tuesday newsletter, to find out what happens next. Sign up is on the link here (to the right and below)
Stay tuned for more.
Young Adult Old Soul 