A conversation with a recently married advertising professional
On living, commuting in Gurgaon
“Gurgaon is unpredictable. It’s like a concrete jungle but there can be a remote village right after a skyscraper. There are posh localities on one side and jhuggis on the opposite. The urban-rural divide here is starker, probably because of the migrant labour that’s cheaper? When I’m with my husband I don’t bother so much, but when I’m alone I do feel weird about it. In fact, Google Maps has taken me to all kinds of random places,through unsafe ‘gallis’ (streets). That worries me more, sometimes it reroutes through all these smaller villages. We see all kinds of things in the media,movies like NH10, and the scenes are right out of the movie. All these weird looking men smoking hookahs, sitting right outside their houses on charpoys, especially on the Gurgaon Faridabad route. It really scares me no end. When I’m on that road alone by any chance, I’m constantly worried, praying for myself,that the car should be fine, hopefully the tyres are okay… The problem is also that these places are so inaccessible, in the middle of nowhere. Even if I have to call my husband it will take him a while to reach me.
Like I was saying, I’ve been very lucky that nothing major has happened so far, but it’s not a safe place, everyone knows that. I don’t like driving alone here at all. I’ve been driving for more than half a decade now, but now that I have the chance, I almost always prefer that my husband drives me.
On the difference between living in Gurgaon and Delhi
I guess a big difference is that the “walking” culture does not exist in Gurgaon as such. Even though I did walk in Delhi frequently to the nearby market and there’s a market right next to where we live now, I hesitate to walk even outside my community gate. It’s almost like safety ends right at the gated complex we live in! Here there’s a guard at every step I can always call out to him when I want, I’m fine. But just stepping out I can’t imagine walking to the nearby market.
I’ll tell you a small incident this reminds me of. A few years ago, I was at a friend’s place, who lives in Gurgaon. It was around 6.30-7 pm so not late. I was supposed to take the metro home, but I couldn’t find an uber to get to the station because it was rush hour. I was in a hurry and I was constantly getting calls from home,so I decided to just walk the distance, probably a 20, max 25-minute distance.And then when I was on my way home or I just reached V(husband) had called me,and I casually mentioned that I walked to the metro. The guy completely lost his mind when he heard that! He was so pissed, he kept asking “you did WHAT?!” You “WALKED?” In Gurgaon?? Did you really want to DIE?” He just couldn’t get over it and kept repeating that I must’ve been out of my mind to even IMAGINE that was safe. Not just the traffic and everything, but hell, it’s Gurgaon, nobody walks here unless you’re okay being pulled away wherever and whenever. There aren’t even enough footpaths!!”
Of course, now I see the point but at the time I guess I was just naïve or bold or whatever, didn’t think much of it. But after he pointed it out,I realised how much of this space is unavailable to us, especially as women."
On living, commuting in Gurgaon
“Gurgaon is unpredictable. It’s like a concrete jungle but there can be a remote village right after a skyscraper. There are posh localities on one side and jhuggis on the opposite. The urban-rural divide here is starker, probably because of the migrant labour that’s cheaper? When I’m with my husband I don’t bother so much, but when I’m alone I do feel weird about it. In fact, Google Maps has taken me to all kinds of random places,through unsafe ‘gallis’ (streets). That worries me more, sometimes it reroutes through all these smaller villages. We see all kinds of things in the media,movies like NH10, and the scenes are right out of the movie. All these weird looking men smoking hookahs, sitting right outside their houses on charpoys, especially on the Gurgaon Faridabad route. It really scares me no end. When I’m on that road alone by any chance, I’m constantly worried, praying for myself,that the car should be fine, hopefully the tyres are okay… The problem is also that these places are so inaccessible, in the middle of nowhere. Even if I have to call my husband it will take him a while to reach me.
Like I was saying, I’ve been very lucky that nothing major has happened so far, but it’s not a safe place, everyone knows that. I don’t like driving alone here at all. I’ve been driving for more than half a decade now, but now that I have the chance, I almost always prefer that my husband drives me.
On the difference between living in Gurgaon and Delhi
I guess a big difference is that the “walking” culture does not exist in Gurgaon as such. Even though I did walk in Delhi frequently to the nearby market and there’s a market right next to where we live now, I hesitate to walk even outside my community gate. It’s almost like safety ends right at the gated complex we live in! Here there’s a guard at every step I can always call out to him when I want, I’m fine. But just stepping out I can’t imagine walking to the nearby market.
I’ll tell you a small incident this reminds me of. A few years ago, I was at a friend’s place, who lives in Gurgaon. It was around 6.30-7 pm so not late. I was supposed to take the metro home, but I couldn’t find an uber to get to the station because it was rush hour. I was in a hurry and I was constantly getting calls from home,so I decided to just walk the distance, probably a 20, max 25-minute distance.And then when I was on my way home or I just reached V(husband) had called me,and I casually mentioned that I walked to the metro. The guy completely lost his mind when he heard that! He was so pissed, he kept asking “you did WHAT?!” You “WALKED?” In Gurgaon?? Did you really want to DIE?” He just couldn’t get over it and kept repeating that I must’ve been out of my mind to even IMAGINE that was safe. Not just the traffic and everything, but hell, it’s Gurgaon, nobody walks here unless you’re okay being pulled away wherever and whenever. There aren’t even enough footpaths!!”
Of course, now I see the point but at the time I guess I was just naïve or bold or whatever, didn’t think much of it. But after he pointed it out,I realised how much of this space is unavailable to us, especially as women."
A conversation with a recently married advertising professional
On living, commuting in Gurgaon
“Gurgaon is unpredictable. It’s like a concrete jungle but there can be a remote village right after a skyscraper. There are posh localities on one side and jhuggis on the opposite. The urban-rural divide here is starker, probably because of the migrant labour that’s cheaper? When I’m with my husband I don’t bother so much, but when I’m alone I do feel weird about it. In fact, Google Maps has taken me to all kinds of random places,through unsafe ‘gallis’ (streets). That worries me more, sometimes it reroutes through all these smaller villages. We see all kinds of things in the media,movies like NH10, and the scenes are right out of the movie. All these weird looking men smoking hookahs, sitting right outside their houses on charpoys, especially on the Gurgaon Faridabad route. It really scares me no end. When I’m on that road alone by any chance, I’m constantly worried, praying for myself,that the car should be fine, hopefully the tyres are okay… The problem is also that these places are so inaccessible, in the middle of nowhere. Even if I have to call my husband it will take him a while to reach me.
Like I was saying, I’ve been very lucky that nothing major has happened so far, but it’s not a safe place, everyone knows that. I don’t like driving alone here at all. I’ve been driving for more than half a decade now, but now that I have the chance, I almost always prefer that my husband drives me.
On the difference between living in Gurgaon and Delhi
I guess a big difference is that the “walking” culture does not exist in Gurgaon as such. Even though I did walk in Delhi frequently to the nearby market and there’s a market right next to where we live now, I hesitate to walk even outside my community gate. It’s almost like safety ends right at the gated complex we live in! Here there’s a guard at every step I can always call out to him when I want, I’m fine. But just stepping out I can’t imagine walking to the nearby market.
I’ll tell you a small incident this reminds me of. A few years ago, I was at a friend’s place, who lives in Gurgaon. It was around 6.30-7 pm so not late. I was supposed to take the metro home, but I couldn’t find an uber to get to the station because it was rush hour. I was in a hurry and I was constantly getting calls from home,so I decided to just walk the distance, probably a 20, max 25-minute distance.And then when I was on my way home or I just reached V(husband) had called me,and I casually mentioned that I walked to the metro. The guy completely lost his mind when he heard that! He was so pissed, he kept asking “you did WHAT?!” You “WALKED?” In Gurgaon?? Did you really want to DIE?” He just couldn’t get over it and kept repeating that I must’ve been out of my mind to even IMAGINE that was safe. Not just the traffic and everything, but hell, it’s Gurgaon, nobody walks here unless you’re okay being pulled away wherever and whenever. There aren’t even enough footpaths!!”
Of course, now I see the point but at the time I guess I was just naïve or bold or whatever, didn’t think much of it. But after he pointed it out,I realised how much of this space is unavailable to us, especially as women."
A conversation with a recently married advertising professional
On living, commuting in Gurgaon
“Gurgaon is unpredictable. It’s like a concrete jungle but there can be a remote village right after a skyscraper. There are posh localities on one side and jhuggis on the opposite. The urban-rural divide here is starker, probably because of the migrant labour that’s cheaper? When I’m with my husband I don’t bother so much, but when I’m alone I do feel weird about it. In fact, Google Maps has taken me to all kinds of random places,through unsafe ‘gallis’ (streets). That worries me more, sometimes it reroutes through all these smaller villages. We see all kinds of things in the media,movies like NH10, and the scenes are right out of the movie. All these weird looking men smoking hookahs, sitting right outside their houses on charpoys, especially on the Gurgaon Faridabad route. It really scares me no end. When I’m on that road alone by any chance, I’m constantly worried, praying for myself,that the car should be fine, hopefully the tyres are okay… The problem is also that these places are so inaccessible, in the middle of nowhere. Even if I have to call my husband it will take him a while to reach me.
Like I was saying, I’ve been very lucky that nothing major has happened so far, but it’s not a safe place, everyone knows that. I don’t like driving alone here at all. I’ve been driving for more than half a decade now, but now that I have the chance, I almost always prefer that my husband drives me.
On the difference between living in Gurgaon and Delhi
I guess a big difference is that the “walking” culture does not exist in Gurgaon as such. Even though I did walk in Delhi frequently to the nearby market and there’s a market right next to where we live now, I hesitate to walk even outside my community gate. It’s almost like safety ends right at the gated complex we live in! Here there’s a guard at every step I can always call out to him when I want, I’m fine. But just stepping out I can’t imagine walking to the nearby market.
I’ll tell you a small incident this reminds me of. A few years ago, I was at a friend’s place, who lives in Gurgaon. It was around 6.30-7 pm so not late. I was supposed to take the metro home, but I couldn’t find an uber to get to the station because it was rush hour. I was in a hurry and I was constantly getting calls from home,so I decided to just walk the distance, probably a 20, max 25-minute distance.And then when I was on my way home or I just reached V(husband) had called me,and I casually mentioned that I walked to the metro. The guy completely lost his mind when he heard that! He was so pissed, he kept asking “you did WHAT?!” You “WALKED?” In Gurgaon?? Did you really want to DIE?” He just couldn’t get over it and kept repeating that I must’ve been out of my mind to even IMAGINE that was safe. Not just the traffic and everything, but hell, it’s Gurgaon, nobody walks here unless you’re okay being pulled away wherever and whenever. There aren’t even enough footpaths!!”
Of course, now I see the point but at the time I guess I was just naïve or bold or whatever, didn’t think much of it. But after he pointed it out,I realised how much of this space is unavailable to us, especially as women."
