Desi Witch

Today, on International Womens Day, the Blank Noise Project has an interesting task for us:

"Being a 'HERO' is relative . We are interested in knowing how you challenged yourself or didint feel victimised?
This is an attempt to understand how different women ( across age groups/ cultures/ communities) have dealt with street sexual harassment in their everyday lives. Male bloggers are encouraged to share stories of women in their lives and how they have dealt with street sexual harassment."

So here's my story. My tale of the one day that I look back on with more glee than I should. It happened when I was about 21. I was at Water Kingdom in Bombay, with a group of other friends - all women. Even though I was soaking wet - this was a water park duh - I was no Mandakini from "Ram Teri Ganga Maili". Unlike her I was clad in a very decent swimming costume that covered my thighs. (And other necessary body parts too, you pervs!) Not that if I had worn something skimpier it justified being ogled at or groped.
There was a dude who kept following me and my friends all around the water park and I wasn't really bothered because I wasn't alone and it was broad daylight.
Some of us decided to go on the huge pipe-like ride called the Giant Snake or something silly like that. Basically, it was this huge long and twisted pipe which had water flowing through it. You enter the pipe and slide down and fall into a pool. Being the adrenaline junkie that I am I had to get on it. The rule was that you went one at a time and waited about 20 seconds after the person ahead of you went in. Shady dude who had followed us around somehow managed to get right behind me in the queue. I don't know whether he bribed the staff who worked there, but he somehow managed to by-pass the mandatory 20 second waiting period and got in about 5 seconds after I did.
When the thrilling ride was over I slid into a small pool and barely had time to mentally collect myself when I sensed someone coming out of the slide right behind me. Before I could get up and move out of their way I felt a pair of hands around me - grabbing my breasts from the back. The next 2 seconds are a blur because all I remember is this fury engulfing me and I turned around and slapped him so hard that he was also stunned. He muttered with very feeble protesting "What happened? Why did you slap me?" Because, dude, I don't get a thrill out of you squeezing my tits. That's why.
Rest assured he didn't follow me or my friends around any more.
When I think back about that incident, I feel nothing but glee that I literally hit back. I don't feel victimized or sad or violated. Because I struck back. And I'd do it again.
As a 5 year old, I was molested by our neighbors servant. And I have a vague memory of me as a 3 or 4 year old being cajoled along with a couple of other little kids into performing oral sex on some slightly older boys. I have no idea whether this is an imagined memory or a memory of something that really happened.
When I started to type put this post I was not sure whether I should mention the bit about the oral sex. And when I did I felt relief - that I finally am telling the world what I've told only one person so far. I doubt that it was an imagined memory. Which 3 year old imagines oral sex?!
What matters is that I never ever EVER feel any guilt about it. Why should I? I was abused. I didn't ask for it. Why should I suffer for what some asshole did to me? I am only a victim if I don't move on and brood about it and curse my fate.
I am a hero for the simple act of leading my normal life.

ps the title for this post is borrowed from that classic scene in Karma where Anupam Kher - Dr. Dang - is slapped by Dilip Kumar.