Isn’t loitering or simply "hanging out" a fundamental human act? Since when did it become a male prerogative? Why do women need to demonstrate a purpose each time they step out? And if they don’t, why are they called frivolous?

Is safety the real reason for controlling a woman’s movement or is it her reputation or her family’s honour? Is the focus on crime rather than fighting for access to public space forcing women towards more dependencies? Do women of a certain socio-economic class, age or orientation enjoy more freedom or, no matter who they are, their choice to move around as they please is always conditional?

Have women become so accustomed to justifying it that they don’t even realise that their natural pleasure to loiter is obstructed?

Mumbai is the best place for women to live is a common perception. It is a benchmark for almost all women across India to live life like a Bombay girl. However, according to the authors Shilpa Phadke, Sameera Khan and Shilpa Ranade, "if this is the standard of access to public space in the country, then perhaps we lack both ambition and imagination".

The questions above and many more complex arguments are a result of their three years of research that will both enlighten and enrage the reader (who doesn’t need to be a feminist, or even a woman).

Published in 2011.