‘BEING AN EXPLORER IS ROOTED IN A FORBIDDEN DESIRE’
Jasmeen Patheja, founder of Blank Noise, talks about women travelling alone and how their stories are always different from men traversing the world
The main difference between how women and men explore spaces as travellers is the preparedness. Women prepare differently. From deciding on a destination to figuring out how they'll get there, to when they'll arrive, to whether they'll be picked up at the airport, bus terminus, or train station, they would have researched all of this in advance with safety in mind. The weight of these decisions is an everyday experience, located in thinking through ways of being safe from violence. And, if safety is afforded financially and is within their capacity, women will travel.
The cautious preparedness for risk and safety is a lesson women have been raised with. These lessons have been heard, challenged, re-assessed, re-negotiated, and rejected while building the "I Never Ask For It Mission" to end victim blame: We are done defending.
I am reminded of a young girl I met who was visiting Bangalore from Kolar. She showed up at a Blank Noise meeting and said she carried a jar of red chilli powder on her bus commute. She told us she wanted to give it up, thereby giving up the fear she was taught to carry.
I am reminded of the countless testimonies of women travelling to places alone and being groped while commuting. I remember the conversations with women who slept in hotel rooms only after checking every lock, sometimes double-locking it, looking out for hidden cameras. Women prepare differently.
I remember when I was in Berlin and taking the last tram to the Airbnb. It was past midnight, and I was still determining if it was the right destination. I saw a woman walking behind me, and I turned to ask her for help. She leapt back, assuming I was a man. A few moments later, she assured me it was the correct address. She invited me to walk with her, making me cross the street because the park wasn't safe. While walking, she shared that she usually took a longer route because the shorter one wasn't safe. She dropped me at my Airbnb and hugged me. I do not remember her name, but I know that shared experiences of navigating our stories of fear are the seeds of solidarity, friendship and change.
Last year, I acted on a desire. I visited the Taj Mahal alone. I sat on the muchphotographed bench, alone, wearing our "Akeli Awaara Azaad" t-shirt. It was a declaration and a celebration of being on my own. I know this resonates with many women. Recently, eight women in their mid-fifties who were travelling together got the tees. It is an act of overcoming and changing a deeply learnt narrative. To travel alone, or alone together, for pleasure is a significant step towards claiming freedom.
Over the years, the projects at Blank Noise have been directed at claiming defencelessness. 'Meet To Sleep' (initiated by Blank Noise and built by citizens and collectives) works with over 50 partner organisations across India, where women sleep in the open. A woman in our partner organisation, Sadhbhavana Trust in Lucknow, said, "I had never seen the sky this blue. I had to lie down to see this colour, this blue sky." Others said, "What stopped me from doing this all my life? This was so simple."
For most, walking alone or sparking the idea of being an explorer is rooted in a forbidden desire. It is a significant moment to act on it.
founder and director of Blank Noise, an organisation that works with communities to design and innovate methodologies for social change. "The unknown is intrinsic to 'exploration' because it involves discovering place and self. We must offer and rely on newer narratives of trust in our right to be explorers. And to know the difference in how men and women experience travel."
Blank Noise has been conducting a series of interviews with women across cities and towns in India on places they like to explore on their own. Responses varied, but most women said they do not go anywhere alone for pleasure. "There is always a purpose to 'going somewhere.' The idea of being an explorer, a wanderer, and to claim that as a woman, is a growing idea," said Patheja.
Blank Noise's numerous public and participatory projects attempt to address that. For instance, 'I Never Ask For It' bears garment and audio testimonies of victim blame and fear. "It (the project) allows us to raise questions on the right to be defenceless, to say we are done defending because for too long we have been raised to carry the burden of preparedness," said Patheja.
IN THE MIDNIGHT HOUR
Several other initiatives are drawing attention to women's relationship with public spaces. For instance, the 'I Will Go
Out' campaign, launched in 2016 in response to sexual harassment cases during New
Year's Eve celebrations in Bengaluru, has organised marches advocating for safe public spaces for women.
The 'Why Loiter' movement has involved women intentionally "loitering" around cities, sharing photos on Twitter with the #Whyloiter hashtag.
"Loitering is a non-normative activity. It is a way of asserting presence, of saying we are here, this is our space as much as it is anyone else's," write Shilpa Phadke, Sameera Khan and Shilpa Ranade in their book of the same name, "Why Loiter?"
The 'Women Walk at Midnight' project is a unique cross-city dialogue between women exploring spaces late at night in different cities. They have chapters in Delhi, Bangalore, Faridabad, Guwahati, and Cape Town.
Bringing art to the conversation is Fearless Collective, which was started by artist
Shilo Shiv Suleman in 2012. They create public art interventions with women and misrepresented communities across the world.
"It's high time that women go out on the streets and reclaim their public space and represent their own stories fearlessly," says Suleman. She believes India needs more female artists on the streets, making way for critical social justice conversations and transforming corners of fear and trauma into a canvas of beautiful art.
*Quotes have been edited for grammar and clarity