Studio X in Mumbai last month hosted the launch of a book that highlights women’s access to public space. Titled, “Why Loiter?” The book is an effort of three women; Sameera Khan a Mumbai based journalist and writer, Shilpa Phadke an assistant professor at the Centre for Media and Cultural Studies at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai and Shilpa Ranade architect and partner at DCOOP in Mumbai.

It chronicles years of meticulous research that attempts to understand how women from different communities, classes and minority groups in Mumbai have limited access to public space and often do not feel safe or comfortable in the public realm. The three women wonder why in a city where men wandering alone or in groups is acceptable but if a woman is on a leisurely stroll then it is assumed that she is up to no good. Loitering is purposeless occupation of space and defiling of public space is not acceptable.

In India, Bombay girls compared to women in other parts of the country are envied for the freedom they have yet women’s access to public space is taken for granted. Women’s access to public space is limited to bazaar’s for running errands and traveling in trains. There is a widening disparity in access to public space.

Men and women cannot date or have a consensual relationship. Paternal protection and affection act as further deterrents as parents are concerned for the future of their daughters. Parents are often concerned about what neighbours will think when they see their daughters loitering.

In it’s effort to discuss the idea of what public space means to Mumbaikars the book gives a good summary of the present day scenario. Each individual occupies his or her own Mumbai. For the roadside tapori(loafer) the 2 feet by 2 feet spot that he stands on is his Mumbai and for the rich elite these loafers are a nuisance and encroachers of the public realm that they are being taxed for. The elite have now privatized public space and so their idea of public space is restricted to malls, sanitized clean public space devoid of the taporis.

Book hawkers once lined the footpaths on D N Road from fort leading to churchgate. A path that once was active and provided a blanket of security for women walking to and from the station late at night now lies deserted and is deemed unsafe.

Before 1995 when Mumbai was Bombay it was an industrial and manufacturing oriented city. A city that thousands migrated to fulfill their dreams. Also post the 1993 riots in Bombay the city has become less accepting of outsiders.

The social and political fabric of the city has changed – it is hostile to outsiders and the poor. The recent 26/11 attacks on the city in 2008 and the 1993 riots continue to haunt the imagination of the city. The image of cosmopolitan Mumbai has been shattered. The city has become more regressive and less accepting of outsiders. The poor are the most affected by it.

The book besides discussing women also talks about how outsiders(non Mumbaikars), Muslim communities, the lesbian and gay community and various other minority groups are denied access to public space.

The second part of the book is entitled, “In search of pleasure.” This part of the reading was presented in a dramatized format by theater artists. Amongst all the neighbourhoods of Bombay, Bandra is considered to be the queen of the suburbs. Within Bandra,

Bandra West is the place where women are most articulative of pleasure and have a breathing space but a breathing space with a boundary. Women can dress as they like, loiter around but in some places – a stroll along carter road late at night is off bounds.

The perception that most Mumbaikar’s have is that women on Mohammed Ali Rd are devoid of fun and pleasure but women here feel differently – they “can go anywhere in a riddah,” said a dawoodi bohra.

With about 6.5 million people living in the slums and occupying just about 8% of the land parts of Bombay have transformed into Slumbay. The street is an extension of their home. With absence of privacy, can they even think of having fun?

The book clearly indicates that women and minority groups in the city are living under social constraints. The third and final part is Imagining Utopia. The three women wish and hope that one day they can take a book and head to a park and read without any inhibitions. Hope society and planners are listening. For Mumbai to be a global city it needs to provide the infrastructure that will allow these women and minority groups to celebrate loitering and have fun.

The ChotuKool is like no other fridge. It does not have a compressor. It runs on a battery. Utensils and bottles need to be loaded into this 43-litre cool box from the top. It weighs only 7.8 kg and costs only Rs 3,200. A product of Godrej & Boyce, the fridge was co-created with the woman of Osamabad, a small town tucked away in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra. This project has another service design component which is extremely interesting – the retailers who go from house to house selling the Chotokools. They belong to the self-help group created and run by Swayam Shikshan Prayog, an NGO microfinance institution (MFI). The number of women retailers approximate 101 in 77 villages. They sell nano refrigerators among other products, in Osmanabad, Maharashtra. and earn Rs 3,000 a month as commission. The MFI also sells Hindustan Unilever water purifiers and BP Energy India cooking stoves. It accounts for 60,000 of the 200,000 Oorja stoves sold across the country by BP Energy.

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