People Always ask me....

Since I moved to Mumbai, many people ask if I feel safe here.  The gang rape case in Delhi has been international news and more people have been asking me about my safety.  I generally feel safe in Mumbai and many parts of India. The only place I didn't feel as safe was in Delhi - I've been there twice and I didn't like it much either time.

In the US, I felt like I always had to have my guard up - if a car was following me when I was walking,  if I was in an elevator alone with several men, at crowded movies theaters, dark parking lots - always the possibility someone is dangerous. I don't feel that way here.  I walk on the street even at night without a second thought.  

But, feeling safe doesn't mean I'm always comfortable.  Beggars harass me on the street and they reach inside rickshaws to grab at me.  I get stared at so much I think I have holes bored into me!  I get harassed, grabbed, yelled at when I don't talk to men who think it is my duty to speak to them.  

Other kinds of safety are a different story!!  In the states, I wear a seatbelt - ALWAYS.  I have never had a traffic ticket or accident (besides sliding on ice when I was 16 and taking out a fence).  I follow basic safety precautions in every area of life.  Here, there aren't a lot of rules and regulations.  Most vehicles don't have seat belts - rickshaws don't even have doors or sides!!  It unnerved me when I got here.  Traffic laws are loosely held here so driving in general is scary and it  felt so dangerous to sit in that thing with nothing holding me in!!  But you can't be anxious and scared all the time.  It is amazing to me how calm I can be now.  There will be three lanes of traffic painted on a road, but cars, rickshaws, busses, and motorcycles will form SEVEN lanes across!  they go whichever way they want, at whatever speed they want etc.  I have to just put my mind somewhere else and pretend it isn't happening - It helps to have someone in the rickshaw with you to talk to!  Crossing the street is a exercise in agility and speed :)  You can't ever take a leisurely walk here.  You have to be "ON" constantly looking for bicycles, rickshaws, motorcycles, cars, busses, ox carts, people pulled carts, dogs, goats, cows, roosters, crows, people,  garbage in the street, holes in the sidewalk - the list goes on :) 

At school I always feel safe!  We have amazing guards and security precautions.  I feel far safer there than than in crowded US schools with kids who are a little nuts.  My kids here are basically sweet and fun :) 

So don't worry about me - I'm safe in India :)