There is a scheduled power cut at 6AM ever day, its almost unintentionally Orwellian. People slowly wake up by this hour, and the sound of devotional music, tinkering vessels, early morning banter starts pervading the air. It is a constant reminder that you live amidst a group of people. A "society". How much does this atmosphere make Indians the highly society-conscious lot that they are?
Even the smallest of squabbles can be heard across parapit walls in India. On the contrary, even screams fall on deaf ears in America (tried and tested). Doesn't necessarily imply that one is more safe than the other. In fact, if anything there is a slightly greater sense of moral responsibility to help a neighbor in trouble, in some parts of America (not the crime ridden inner-cities).
There was a lot of coverage on the murder of a young advocate woman, living alone in an apartment in suburban Bombay (in such close quarters with other people) by the apartment's security guard (who apparently was lusting over her and stalking her). The news coverage clearly showed that the young woman struggled for her life, after being stabbed, perhaps even managed to get close to the elevator lobby and screamed for life.
I am always highly offended by the lack of empathy in Indian men. Being groped in broad daylight in India is not uncommon. I was dressed in the modest of clothes, walking on the poshest of streets in Hyderabad (when did clothes ever imply permission for advances and breaching privacy anyway?). There were witnesses whose facial expressions didn't changed despite what they saw. I am not the only victim. I was, perhaps, shaken for a day, discussed and argued about it for a week.
In India, you very definitely fend for yourself, resorting to law & order doesn't cross my mind (calling the police is never a very plausible option). It is another way of life. I am always reminded of it.
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