Wandering Souls

Nearly three months ago, Neha Singh and Devina Kapoor came across the book Why Loiter?, written by Shilpa Phadke, Sameera Khan and Shilpa Ranade. The book spoke of why there were hardly any women on Mumbai’s streets as well as the urgent need to reclaim the streets as their own. Inspired, Singh and Kapoor decided to start a ‘Why Loiter? group’ in the city. In small groups of three or four girls, they frequented places such as chai tapris, parks and railway platforms to loiter around. “The idea was to make every place accessible to women and get people used to the idea of them walking around aimlessly,” says Singh. Agrees Kapoor. “There is a strange freedom in loitering. A sense of liberation and satisfaction of reclaiming what is rightfully yours,” she adds.

By now, Singh and Kapoor have led as many as 40 women — from theatre and films, among others — in and around the city on weekly outings. Homemakers and students have joined them too. “We’ve done a bicycle run in Colaba, wandered around Borivali National Park for hours and even had a midnight stroll from Juhu to Yaari Road. We focus on public spaces, which malls or coffee shops are not,” says Singh.

Once when the Why Loiter group was chatting at a chai tapri, the curious owner asked what they were all doing there. Another time during a midnight stroll, a non-uniformed police officer told them that they appeared to be from good families and hence shouldn’t be out on the streets that late. “These are exactly the issues we want to address. A woman should be able to do what she wants, even if it means just loitering,” Singh says.

So far, the response has been gratifying. For instance, a woman from Hyderabad heard about this group and wrote to them asking if she can start something similar in her city. “The women we meet go home and text us saying how wonderful they felt walking around doing nothing. It’s funny how sometimes something as simple as walking on the street can set you free,”  Kapoor says.