What knowledge might save your life one day?

This helped me get out of an uncomfortable situation -

Yes, this tiny little thing helped me!

One day I was travelling to my hometown on a government bus from college. My hometown is Ooty and is around 3 hours from Coimbatore (where I studied college). Because Ooty is a hill station and a tourist place, the buses are always crowded and it’s really hard to find a seat on the bus.

I finally found a place but it was next to a man who was like 50. I was too tired and I know I can’t stand for the next 3 hours so I just sat next to him. In India, women always think twice before sitting next to men, any men for that matter, because of things like this -

The man who was almost the same age as my father started touching me inappropriately. He started sliding his hands over my waist. I was sleeping when he started doing this. I woke up to this and waited to confirm if this was actually happening. And, he was going further and further. I was a bit scared to get up and shout at him.

So what I did was, I took a safety pin (I had a large one) from my bag and started poking him every time he brought his hand near my waist. I had no mercy and I poked him really hard with all the anger I had. Then, he stopped!

To all the women out there, you should never be quiet when someone does this. I think we should all have the courage to get up and shout or slap the person. People around you will definitely support you. But when you don’t or can’t, this safety pin comes in handy. Though it doesn’t help you get out of critical situations, in cases like this, it comes in very handy.

Please have a safety pin in your handbag or wallet whenever you take public transport!