Where Are The Women? Fort Area, Mumbai
Photo Documentary on Gender And Public Space in 5 Indian Cities, this is second part.
An edited version of this piece was first published on Firstpost.
Mumbai is the city of dreams for millions, there is place for everyone in this city and the urban legend goes that the city never sleeps. People of Mumbai have always taken pride in their city being one of India’s safest for women, where millions of women live an independent life. They hang out at the chowpatty and take the ladies special trains even at late night. But this image is only partially true. A comparatively large (18% while Delhi has mere 11%) female workforce participation in Mumbai is one of the main reasons why the city gets the reputation of being safe for women. The catch here is that better access to public spaces like railway station, parks, markets, bus stations, metro is available to Mumbai women for the purpose of their formal and informal employment. Once the duty shift is over women walk right back to their homes.
Relationship between gender and public space in Mumbai therefore had to be captured at the night when women’s duty hours are over. I strategically chose the Fort Area which is considered the heart of Mumbai, the financial capital of India. Like Connaught Place, Fort is also an office and commercial hub where many public and private enterprises have their headquarters, the Reserve Bank of India, State Bank of India, Bombay Stock Exchange to name a few. At one side of Fort is the sea, with several important docks and ports. The area is historically significant as it has some of the old colonial buildings, The Asiatic Library, Horniman Circle Gardens, The General Post Office and of course the spectacular Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Similar to Connaught Place this area too is populated with many shops and street vendors selling a plethora of items form books to cameras, CDs, Navy Uniforms, electronics items, printing press and so on. In addition there are innumerable hotels, restaurants, bars and travel agency offices catering to large number of tourists.
The photoshoot at Fort Area revealed that even during the day the area isn’t exactly bursting with female presence. And it changes its character dramatically as it gets dark. Hordes of men can be seen walking down the lanes and by lanes in Fort area going in and out of many office buildings or carrying on their trade and business. But few women can be seen making one wonder, are women invisible? Female workforce presumably remain inside the office buildings.
Men can be seen standing in groups near tea stalls, fruit juice stalls, light snacks corner, parking lots etc. but women are always missing from these spots.
Several men can be seen taking a break from their routine and relaxing on the lawns of the beautiful Horniman Circle Garden but here too women are largely missing except few instances.
Both class and age are factors in women’s access to public space. The Fort area has very premium financial buildings where many women work but they are mostly upper class white collared employees who commute by cars or cabs and remain inside their AC offices. This category of female workforce would rarely be seen in a public space or roadside tea stall. But older women in the informal low paying sector can be seen comfortably taking a break somewhere in the Horniman Circle Garden.
At night however the entire area around SBI, Jimmy Boy Restaurant, Chroma Store and several other by lanes become completely dark and deserted rendering it unsafe for solo woman.
The grand staircase of Asiatic Library is a popular spot for film shoots. Often a film crew can be spotted here consisting of largely men. It is also a couple’s meeting point during the day. A solo woman is a rare sight around the area even during day time. At night the staircase gets occupied by groups of men purposelessly loitering, but no woman.
A whooping 6.36 lakh passengers per day commutes via the Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) making it the 2nd most busiest station in Mumbai. Yet one quick look at the large crowd rushing in and out of the station, you can mostly see men.
The shopping area in Fort closer to the GPO and CST remains alive through the day with hustle bustle of Mumbai trade and commerce but again it is a masculine area. Women whether solo or in groups are largely missing. At night the only female in this area the poor and destitute either begging of looking for a pavement to sleep.
Few men can be seen having dinner from street shops or the bars and restaurants. Traditionally the hotels, bars and restaurant near railway stations are labelled as indecent for family outing and Fort is no different in that sense. The customers I observed coming to these hotels and bars were largely male and I couldn’t even find a family.
