[ToI] Feeling safe, and at home

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3 Jul 2007, 0035 hrs IST,PALLAVI PASRICHA ,Epaper

Delhi may not be one the most friendliest of places for young women, yet it's the most favoured destination when it comes to getting a seat in the Delhi University.
Delhi is an unsafe city for women but that does not deter girls from other towns to come and study there, in fact if you go by numbers Delhi has now emerged as the education capital for women.

In arts and science undergraduate courses, girls and boys are equal. Nearly 43 per cent of all girls in the age group of 18 to 24 years in Delhi are studying in higher education institutions. This puts them ahead of boys with an enrolment ratio of just 33 per cent.
For the whole country, the enrolment ratio in higher education is just 8 per cent for girls. The reason for this is that many girls from smaller towns come to Delhi to study in graduate and post-graduate courses.

But don't these girls feel unsafe when they come to Delhi, where the crime rate is high, a city that is unsafe for single women and as many as 600 rape cases were reported in 2006. So aren't the outstation girls scared, what are their biggest concerns and fears? Let's find out.

Who cares if Delhi is unsafe?

Even though these girls have studied in small towns they want to let their hair down and enjoy when they come to a city like Delhi.
Ankita Das from Assam says, "DU is the best university in the country that's why I want to study here at any cost. I know Delhi is not a very safe city but who cares, we can't stop living our life, all we can do is be careful." She adds that she's not looking forward to her stay in Delhi because she'll miss her hometown, but has her cousins to keep her company.
DU - which is considered the best university in the country, brings these girls to the city. They choose it over places like Mumbai and Kolkata because of the university name.

Anjalina Bhatnagar from Dehradun, who was busy preparing for her Maths (Hons) interview at St Stephen's College says, "I am looking forward to staying in Delhi, college life is all about fun and I cannot miss out on that. I know it's unsafe going out at night so I won't go, why take a risk when we know the crime rate is so high here."
Some come here to bury their nose in books and study hard while others can't miss out on any fun. Shweta Mishra from Dhanbad, who got into LSR in the first cut off list in History (Hons) says, "Delhi is a cosmopolitan city, not only do you get to meet people from different walks of life but also from other nationalities. It's good fun."

Their biggest concerns

Being in a new city brings along with it a host of worries - some are apprehensive about hostel life while others get nervous about ragging. But none of them are bothered about Delhi being an unsafe city for women. Says Anjalina, "I am worried about how the people here will be, I have heard that you can never trust anyone in a place like this - you never know what attitude they might have. That's why I will be on guard and a bit reserved initially ."
If she thinks this way, Ankita dreads the thought of ragging. She says, "I am petrified of ragging, I don't know what they will ask me to do. And since I will be staying in the hostel, I really hope I'm not in for any bad ragging. I've heard horror tales of what goes on inside these hostels and I don't want to face anything like that."

Many of these girls did not have a tough time convincing their parents Ankur Mitra to let them come and study in Delhi.

Akshaya Shah who's from Meerut says, "I have relatives and friends here, so my folks were cool about it. The best part is that I won't have to stay with my relatives and can chill in a hostel." These girls are not at all worried about where they will stay or how they will manage.
Arushi Sharma from West Bengal who's here with her cousin says, "We will have to look for a PG because we won't be able to get into any of the hostels. But we look forward to it, it's a bit unsafe as compared to a hostel but we don't have any other option."

So whether the city is safe or unsafe, it doesn't matter to these students who are here to enjoy life and be a part of one of the best universities in this country.