It happened to me...

This is an official entry for KFC Fiery Contest held by Indi blogger.

This is a real life incident which happened to me around ten years back; an incident
which changed my life ,which changed my perception towards several things that
happen around us.

Ten years back , one rainy morning I stepped out of my house as usual for my
tuitions.I was in standard 8th then. It was the last day of Ganesh Chaturthi and
around 7 in the morning. It was drizzling.It was wet & cold everywhere. I loved
the cold breeze hitting my face. There were hardly people on the roads due to the
festive occasion. It was unusually silent everywhere .My classes were about 15 min
away from my home and I used to walk my way to my classes.

Two routes led me to my destination-a long route and a short one. Me being a lazy
kid chose the shortcut route which would help me reach my target just in five
minutes unlike the other route. The short cut route meant crossing a narrow lane ;
by narrow I mean only one person could enter from both the ends at the same time.
If more people entered, one would have to literally squeeze in their way out. This
route was always avoided by people during the late night hours because the person at
one end couldn’t see the person coming from the other end until you reached midway.
And if something unfortunate ever happened midway it would take another five minutes
for you to cross the lane to reach the main road where the lane ended. The lane was
like a snake ,long unending,the mouth and tail of which were miles apart.
For me it was just another day.I entered the lane and it suddenly started raining.I
saw a man in his forties clad in a lungi walking towards me. I took out my umbrella
and started walking towards the other end of the lane.We both were walking towards
each other.When I had seen him he was at quite a distance and so I was busy trying
to switch open my umbrella. In no time I felt someone groping me and fondling my
breasts.By the time I realized what was happening, I saw him running away.I followed
him still unsure of exactly what to term the act he had done to me.Within seconds he
had disappeared.He was nowhere in sight. I came out of the lane back from where I
had started ,completely shaken,scared and not knowing what had happened to me.I had
lost the guts to cross the lane all alone. I knew he had done something wrong to me
and I wanted to reach my parents somehow.

Ten years back there weren’t any cell phones, sex education wasn’t mandatory as it
is,our families never discussed sex, molestation, rape. I don’t mean to say there
weren’t any rapes and molestation cases ten years back but then during my school
days my parents never explained me all this because it was never needed.I called up
my parents from a local booth and I didn’t know what to tell them as to what had
happened. I had done no wrong but then the conservative attitude of not discussing
such dirty stuff stopped me from coming up with the truth and i lied to my parents
someone tried to snatch my gold chain. They would also know what had happened to me
then with this post.

At night, my mom was worried about how I would go the next day. My dad was like
why do you have to choose a path which people avoid when chain snatching is ona
rise. Why can’t you go via the longer route. I was asked to stop wearing gold chain
for further safety. Right from childhood days I am someone who would never support
something wrong that ever happened. I just stood there and told my dad “Why would I
change my route when I haven’t done anything wrong. If u wish to drop me daily you
can come with me, if no, I am not changing any route ,any path”And the conversation
ended there forever.

I was scared for a few days but then there was no change in my plan to use the same
route again. All I thought was I hadn’t done any wrong and I am not encouraging

someone who does wrong by me changing my way. Days passed by and After a period of 3
months, as usual I was going for my classes. I entered the lane and there were some
other ladies too who were behind me in the lane. They too had entered the lane at
the same time with me. I reached midway and I came face to face with the same man.
A chill ran down my spine. I could no way forget his face for the act of his. He too
had recognized me and gave me a smile; a smile that still gives me goose bumps. I
trembled but then I knew I had to get out of the lane to save my self. I was sure
of the fact that he wouldn’t do anything in the lane since there were ladies behind
me.I dint want to create a scene in the lane because I wasn’t sure the ladies would
be of any help then. i ran my way out of the lane,and after walking few steps out of
the lane I turned back only to find that he was following me and was at a hand’s distance.
My heart raced , it thumped against the walls and I was totally blank. That was a
moment where I was going through mixed emotions of anger, fear, a wish to teach
him a lesson. But something in me kept me going .I knew running to a crowded place
could save me of the worst that awaited me.The roads were empty since it was an
early morning time, but I didn’t lose hope.Getting into any unknown building wasn’t
any safe option either.I kept running and he kept following.Suddenly I saw a man in
his fifties coming out of a building.I believe he was out for a morning stroll.The
moment I saw him my quick mind and my fiery tongue (Which was always as fiery as
KFC grilled Chicken)was put to work. I told the entire ordeal to this man who was a
god in disguise for me that day. He alerted some other men .In the due course the
molester understood that I had alerted people around and started running. Someone
managed to nab him and the crowd gave him a thrashing of his life. My presence of
mind saved me that day.

I didn’t write this to garner sympathy but to pass on a message.
“Educate your kids about things happening around you. Sex Education is mandatory.
If schools don’t provide it ,parents are the best teachers in the world …start
educating your kids. Let your kids know what all things can happen to them and how
to deal with it. Make them strong physically and mentally. Make them fearless.Create
a bond with your kids where you can discuss any topic under the roof.Deal such
incidents with sensitivity.If you see someone being sexually abused don’t wait and
watch, you could be the next. Raise your voice against it”.

I realized that day your safety is your concern and no one else’s. Stand up for
yourself. Stop criticizing the system. Fight for your self first and you would see
the world fighting for you. I was lucky that day. I may or maynot be lucky again.
Not every day someone would turn up as a saviour. Cursing the system doesn’t help
either when things are happening to you. I realized years later what that man did
to me was called MOLESTATION.I was molested. This is something which is a common
occurrence these days. But how did it become common? Why don’t you stop and slap
someone who touches you at all the wrong places when you are stuck in a crowded
place, when someone tries to pinch or feel your butt ,why do we always have a next
time for teaching such people a lesson they have never learnt for every wrong thing
done to us now.
If there is any time that’s right to start teaching such perverts a lesson its
NOW!!!Bring that fire in you out!!!