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Delhi woman’s midnight ride on Mumbai Metro goes viral for showing what ‘feeling safe’ looks like

Having grown up in Delhi, Divya explained that simply being on public transport past midnight without anxiety felt deeply emotional.

3 min readNew DelhiJan 31, 2026 01:44 PM IST

Instagram user Divya shared a video of her journey around 12.10 am, capturing a slice of everyday life inside the Metro (Representational Image/Sora AI)

A Delhi-based woman’s late-night ride on the Mumbai Metro has sparked a wider conversation online about safety, freedom, and how differently women experience public spaces across Indian cities.

Instagram user Divya shared a video of her journey around 12.10 am, capturing a slice of everyday life inside the Metro, groups chatting animatedly after a concert, commuters laughing, and people standing close yet still respecting each other’s space. Nothing dramatic happened, but for Divya, that ordinariness was exactly what made the moment powerful.

Having grown up in Delhi, she explained that simply being on public transport past midnight without anxiety felt deeply emotional. In her caption, she wrote, “As a woman who grew up in Delhi, it made me so emotional to be in public transport post midnight wearing whatever I want and watching people be so civilized and mindful.” She added that the same sense of order carried over even at a crowded Metro station after a concert she had attended earlier that night.

The contrast with her experiences in Delhi, she said, was stark. “In Delhi? I always had to plan, are my outfits okay? Can I take a cab post 11pm? I wouldn’t even consider the metro,” she wrote, describing the constant calculations around safety, personal space, and unwanted attention. In Mumbai, however, the calm and considerate behaviour around her made her feel that moving to the city was “so worth it.”

Watch the video here:

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The video quickly drew mixed reactions in the comments. Many women related strongly to Divya’s feelings, praising Mumbai for the sense of ease it offers. One user wrote, “Mumbai isn’t perfect, but moments like this show why people trust the city. Safe, chill, and let-you-be. Freedom shouldn’t have a curfew.”

Another user commented, “Honestly, it’s exhausting to see so many men defending this with the weakest possible arguments. Money, ticket price, population, geography, infrastructure. None of that is the point. You can throw all the statistics you want, but they don’t change the lived reality for women. The simple truth is: as a woman, you can’t even imagine doing this in Delhi without calculating risk, fear, and consequences. That’s the real difference. Instead of listening to women and reflecting on why this gap exists, men are busy trying to “win” an argument. Not all men, obviously but somehow always a man.”

Not everyone agreed with the comparison. Some users came to Delhi’s defence, arguing that the discussion ignored context. One comment read, “Mumbai people flexing after getting metro in 2025; if even one post was made about the local trains…” (“Mumbai people showing off after getting the metro in 2025; if even one post was made about the local trains…”). Another user took a more balanced view, saying, “I would say Mumbai is safer than Delhi, but I think the metro is safe in both cities.”