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Get Smart, Girls. Get Suraksha

1:54:00 pm

India is a great country. Mahaan. We invented Chess. We started the number system. We gave the world Bollywood.

We have 893 girls born for every 1,000 boys. We have crimes against women building up at the rate of 129% every year and a conviction rate less than half of it. Bharat Mata ki Jai.

I’d like to relate an incident that occurred during the days I was working in an IT company in Bangalore. After a weekend at home, I used to return early Monday mornings by bus. These buses from Kerala usually reached at dawn, around 5:30 or 6:00. Depending on the season, there might or might not be daylight then.

One bright Monday morning, I got off at Madiwala and was looking for an auto to take me to my hostel. An auto guy came along and made the usual demands for a 1 and ½ fare. I agreed and got in. Soon, the driver turned chatty. He asked me if I knew Kannada. I said no. He went on anyway, talking endlessly and asking questions. I began to tense up, with every cell of my body telling me that this guy was definitely not normal. I began looking out of the auto, but there weren’t that many people about. I considered jumping out, but it seemed risky. I was literally at my wits end.
Source
Eventually, the driver reached my hostel, though he parked a little away. I jumped out, sweating, and handed him the fare. But instead of receiving it, he got ready to come out and take off his clothes!! He was saying something, but all I remember was dropping the money on the road and running with my bags towards my hostel. I think I could hear him shouting, ‘Madam, madam’ from behind. I couldn’t sleep for nearly a week after that. To this day, I haven’t told my parents about this. When I think about it now, I wish I had Smart Suraksha with me.


Smart Suraksha is an android app that can help you in such situations. Press a button to trigger an alarm that will alert 5 of your pre-chosen contacts, and also capture your location, regardless of whether you’ve enabled GPS or not.

Can this app stop an attacker from attacking you? No, but it can help you escape, and get others to help you. Your contacts will know you’re in danger and can immediately take action, if one is not available, you have four more. You can save valuable evidence, like your location, information about a car number or a person’s clothes, a nickname etc. Any information will be of use to track down a criminal – it doesn’t matter even if you got away, he can be arrested just for trying to attack you.

Here are a few scenarios where you can use this app:

1. Like the one above. You’re in a vehicle and like me, don’t want to risk enraging the driver by screaming, especially if you’re not sure there is anyone to hear those screams.

2. You’re waiting at a bus stop or similar place and you sense imminent danger or are all alone.

3. You’re working late and there’s hardly anyone left in office.

4. Your car breaks down in the middle of nowhere and it’s late. It’s even risky accepting help at this stage.

I believe that women have a certain intuitive power that signals us when danger is near. Considering we live in such a technological age, why don’t we combine both these strengths and ensure our safety?  Get the Smart Suraksha app installed in your phone right away and empower yourselves. Bharat Ma ki betiyon ki Jai.


The thing women have yet to learn is nobody gives you power. You just take it.  ~Roseanne Barr

I am participating in the Seeking Smart Suraksha contest at BlogAdda.com in association with Smart Suraksha App.

Welcome! I am Fab - work from home Mom and lover of good books, chocolate, music and movies (not in that order!). In my free time, you'll find me here, talking about everything under the sun!

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22 comments

  1. Nielouphar (Neelu)24 October 2013 at 17:44

    Vow! That is a really cool app! Sorry about the incident in Bangalore.. way too many for us to say, right?

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    Replies
    1. beingFab25 October 2013 at 10:19

      You bet, Neelu. But this was one incident, where I could really have used the app. There's no doubt that every woman out there has horror stories far worse than this to recount.

      Delete
  2. Manjulika Pramod25 October 2013 at 11:17

    No part of India is safe actually... This application is really cool..

    manjulikapramod.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. beingFab25 October 2013 at 11:18

      Very true, Manjulika. Urban, Rural, day, night - anything can happen anywhere.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous25 October 2013 at 12:04

    OMG..what a terrible thing to have happened!! :eek: It's actually saddening to see that even in this day and age we are not safe. :( This app is quite good, will use it. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. beingFab25 October 2013 at 14:28

      Oh no, we'd think that with the media reaching everywhere, people are getting more and more aware. But what's happening around the country shows the opposite.

      Delete
  4. Swapna25 October 2013 at 12:17

    That was so scary Fab! Glad you had the courage to run away. This app is definitely a must for every woman in India!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Poohkie25 October 2013 at 20:53

    Reading this made me break out in a cold sweat!
    This post comes at an opportune time for me. I've been thinking about safety and have downloaded a few apps too. But I'm simply not satisfied with any of those. My phone is huge & I don't usually carry it in my hands as I have at least 2 bags to hold. Also, in tense situations, who knows if I'll remember which button to press! I have a whistle on a chain & I sometimes wear it around my neck when I'm feeling particularly insecure. But what I really want is a personal safety alarm. Do you know where we can get those in India?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. beingFab25 October 2013 at 22:38

      I don't know, Poohkie. A whistle does seem like a good idea, along with pepper spray. Safetykart.com is a website that sells stuff like that, you could have a look there.

      Delete
  6. Unknown26 October 2013 at 01:51

    such a nice app...will definitely tell about this to my girl friends in india! U have a new like on fb!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Unknown26 October 2013 at 07:53

    Thanks Fab for sharing this info. I am definitely going to install this app.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. beingFab26 October 2013 at 08:05

      You're welcome, Nidhi! Please install it and let your friends know about it too.

      Delete
  8. Swathi26 October 2013 at 09:37

    That is very nice app Fabida, no where in India is safe for girls.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. beingFab26 October 2013 at 13:40

      True, Swathi - all the more reason for us to take steps to be safe!

      Delete
  9. Pratibha27 October 2013 at 18:49

    Need to download this one. Thank you for sharing this app!

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  10. Gia's Mom1 November 2013 at 09:55

    So sad that events like this one are far too common in India. The situation really seems to be worsening by the day. I have had such incidents in the past and yes we would never tell our parents/family because we don't want them to worry. Thanks for sharing the info. We do need to make things safer for women in this country.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. beingFab1 November 2013 at 10:52

      That's the problem! Many parents will worry though they can't do much about it, some might even stop their daughters from studying/working/going out.

      Delete
  11. Unknown1 November 2013 at 09:58

    So sad that events like this one are far too common in India. The situation really seems to be worsening by the day. I have had such incidents in the past and yes we would never tell our parents/family because we don't want them to worry. Thanks for sharing the info. We do need to make things safer for women in this country.

    ReplyDelete