I write about the freedom I felt while visiting Arunachal Pradesh

Today, I was at Arunachal Pradesh. I stopped at a petrol pump to use the rest room. A sparkling clean toilet showed up. Post that I stood there, alone. Cars, motor bikes with dozens of men came to fill their tanks. Women too. And not for a moment I was stared at. My cousin joined me. And we loitered a little. No staring. Not one cuss word. No slowing down of cars. Men minded their own business. Suddenly it felt so free, to be in a public space without the constant reminder of the male gaze. Women know when they are stared at. Constantly. We learn to either live with it. Or avoid. Public spaces constantly tell us about our gender. Today for a few minutes it felt weird. There was nothing to live with or to avoid. I felt free.

Went to the River Lohit or what is known as Parashuram Kund. The river despite being a holy site was pristine. It was green as it reflected the mountains. Men and women came to take a dip. They did. Still no stares. There was no security of policemen. Yet no stares. I sat by the river for long. Gazed at infinity. Gazed at the flow. Breathed the fresh air. Meditated. And it felt free. No one started a conversation or tried to get close.

How wonderful it is to be yourself. Just yourself in the public space. As our car sped by, I saw women in trucks, in hotels, in roads. They did not pace. They walked and moved easy. They enjoyed themselves on the public space. I learnt that to be yourself should not be an act of rebellion for a woman, it should be a given at her birth. I felt free like the river today. Free to flow. Free to stop. To hop. To laugh. And not to worry if someone is getting too close.

Thank you Arunachal Pradesh for letting me, be. For letting me loiter in your streets. And letting me live a few hours of ungendered life.

Bless you and your people.

(This post was written in 2019, 21st October after my short visit to Arunachal Pradesh on Facebook, which went viral afterwards)

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