Two people in Mumbai decided to replicate the New York video – but what they came up with could not seem more different.
In one video, a woman dressed in a pink top and a short skirt walks all over the city – from Andheri and Vashi to Bandra and Kurla – for a day but ostensibly receives no catcalls, no stares. The video, signing off, flashes the message that the girl did not suffer a “single incident of street harassment”. “Female citizens are safe and respected... in this city,” it says. “Mumbaikars deserve a big salute for their attitude towards women.”
In the second, a woman, dressed in a full-length green skirt and a full-sleeved top, walks for an hour around what appears like Grant Road area. She is constantly stared at, even followed by a man. Frustrated and exasperated, she finally exclaims at the end of the video: “I can’t take any more men looking at me.”
Most Mumbai women seem to think that the first video was a PR exercise. It's impossible to get through the day without being started at, they say.
You decide.