What women want: The Bombay Edit

The hyped International Women’s Day is a one-day affair of flowers and gifts, but when it comes to benefits and conveniences, the average woman is hardly on the radar of the powers that be. Our sutradhaars do a reality check

PHEROZE! I was hoping that we would meet mid-week; no message, nothing…?” It was a loaded statement from Lady Flora directed to her friend, Sir PM. He looked surprised as usual, and jogged his memory to figure if something major had slipped his mind. It was a block. Unable to bear his puzzled face any longer, she began, “Well, if you must know, March 8 was observed as International Women’s Day. People tend to celebrate us on the day; though I personally feel it shouldn’t be relegated to just one day of the year. Gifts poured in from all sides; my favourites included the delicate hairpiece that the kind Captain gifted me all the way from Poona’s finest jeweller, good Dr Viegas, who couriered a flower vase, while ole chappie, Eddie (Edward) sent across the freshest seasonal flowers from Victoria Gardens via Percy. It was quite the spread around my pedestal last Friday,” she boasted, while sipping on chai, as a gentle breeze enveloped the Cooperage Bandstand. Sir PM was cross with himself for missing the date, and worse, this aftermath that he had to hear about.

“I apologise for this miss. No excuses. Is there anything I can do to make up for it?” he pleaded with his friend, hoping she would blink but knowing her, he felt that the moment had passed. Just then, the opposite happened. Lady Flora decided to make the most of the request, “Very well, I have a suggestion, Pheroze; a list, in fact. I am a visionary woman, and a true Bombaywallah at heart, irrespective of what some people might say. I feel you can intervene on behalf of the gutsy women of the city,” she trailed off. Sir PM was surprised but decided to blindly agree to offer his support. “Please, by all means, go ahead and share your thoughts,” he said.

“For over six months now, I have been researching the needs and issues of the city’s average woman. She doesn’t have it easy. All this is based on data that I have collected while watching from my pedestal—overheard conversations, loud chit chat and gupshup. My ears are always peeled to these developments, as you know,” Lady Flora was on a roll. “Here is one segment entirely dedicated to women commuters—hygienic, well-equipped and safe restroom facilities at all railway stations/ Patrolling in women’s compartments in local trains especially after peak hours/ Well-lit bus halts/ More women auto rickshaw and taxi drivers/ More seats in BEST buses for women and more women-only compartments in local trains too… one-off rose bouquets and samosa-tea parties don’t help their case,” Lady Flora was in her activist mode. She loved slipping into it, Sir PM could tell.

“May I also add that night patrolling along dimly-lit pavements and roads that are frequented by women is also the immediate need of the hour? These amazing women work so hard in their offices and then, travel to far-off suburbs to look after their families. It is an unimaginable balance. I salute them,” Sir PM did a gentle replication of a salute, to show solidarity. Lady Flora chuckled at his enthusiasm. “This is just one segment; I am working on the rest but now that you’ve given me the green light, I’ll ensure you have the entire document to present to your former bosses in a week’s time. See, with the civic and general elections expected in summer, we must strike when the iron is hot,” she explained.

Sir PM was impressed by his friend’s thoughtful gesture for the women of Bombay. “I haven’t seen any outreach so far to benefit our women workforce; it’s the very least that the civic authorities can do to ease things for them. India’s richest civic corporation ought to do better for this large chunk of the working population. What’s the point of floating fancy-sounding schemes; I keep hearing terms like ‘digital supremacy’, ‘smart cities’ and ‘mahila shakti’. Then, I also see how everyone is blinded by multiple new infrastructure projects; but what about people’s welfare, including our women? These plans sound like hollow chants. You know, things were different in our times. The women loved their city; nowadays, I overhear female commuters grumble and wail every day about their plight and struggles.” His friend was busy making notes in a diary, in her neat cursive handwriting.

“Yes, of course. This is just the tip of the iceberg. I am yet to reach the unaccounted-for construction workers, domestic help, migrant labourers,” Lady Flora chimed in. 

“And we mustn’t forget essential service folk, like the policewomen, road cleaners, garbage disposal workforce—they too need to be factored in for better facilities,” Sir PM added.

“I cannot wait to spruce this list up, with my data. Pheroze, we owe it to our dear sisters, mothers and daughters. The tokenism and optics that play out for one day are cosmetic. Every day should be Women’s Day for them,” she smiled.

mid-day’s Features Editor Fiona Fernandez relishes the city’s sights, sounds, smells and stones...wherever the ink and the inclination takes her. She tweets @bombayana
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