10 Safe Travel Tips and one cool app- Smart Suraksha
We have lived in some of the most wonderful cities in India and traveled to more locations than I have written about. There was a time when Delhi was considered to be unsafe for women while cities like Mumbai and Kolkata were considered to be safe for women. Unfortunately in recent past almost every city has become unsafe for women with incidents of rape, assault and harassment coming from every city. There could be many reasons for the same, one could be that the situation was always bad but now with more active both traditional as well as social media the incidents are coming to light.
Recently my 21-year-old niece started working as an intern with a company in Delhi. Suddenly she is traveling alone in Delhi. You see it is only once you start working you travel alone in true sense. As when she was in college she would normally travel in group with her friends but she is the only one from her locality in her office and need to travel alone. With her stepping out of home alone all of us are worried about her and like a true desi family and keep on advising her.
So here is a list that I compiled from all our advice and suggestions that we gave to her, they were written with Delhi in mind but are useful to anybody traveling alone.
So here are the suggestions given by us to here
10: Tip from Nanee: Puttar, now you will be going in buses and metro alone make sure you do not take an empty bus or metro. The moment you get in bus call your mother and tell her where you are.
9: Tip from her aunt : Oh wonderful that you are working now, you will get some money to spend now. I think the first thing you should buy is a good purse, and a bottle of pepper spray. Anybody tries to act fresh with you just hose him with the spray, followed by a kick in the balls.
8. Tip from her bratty brother: Didi, at least now you should learn some Karate with me, now you will travel alone in city and Karate can help you. Trust me sis, nothing better than a few Karate Chops to teach X%^& a lesson.
7. Tip from here firebrand cousin sister who has been working for 5 years: Cool girl, now you will work! Hmm trust me there will be late night work in office, last minute deadlines and once you get out of office all you will think is to reach home. If in a hurry and you take a cab or auto, whether shared or individual the first thing you need to do is note down the number of the cab, then call your mother or somebody and tell them that you have taken the cab with number XYZ and will reach home in x minutes. Trust me Doll, nobody will act smart with you once they know you have broadcast their number. Remember George Bernard Shaw who said it is not the severity of punishment it is the surety of punishment that makes people follow law. And even if the cabbie has bad intentions, once he knows his number is known to your family he will take you home straight.
6. Tip from her DJ Neighbor who is her Rakhee Bhai: Oye, now that you will work you will also have office parties. Remember parties are to enjoy not getting drunk; never take a drink that has not been poured from a bottle opened in front of you. Better still don’t drink in office parties, you never know who is making a video for YouTube. Also you never know what somebody may mix in your drink.
5. Father Speak: I don’t know why you want to work, but if it makes you happy you must work. But remember you should never work for money, do something you enjoy and love doing and money will follow. If you will work for money you will get into trouble, also remember all those boss kind of guys in your office, just because they are your grandpa’s age, does not mean they think of you like their granddaughter. Most cases of assault on girls happen from somebody known, so never let your guards down, no matter how comfortable you may feel in office or anywhere else.
4. Saheli Speaks: Haaai! You will work now, so Kewl Na! You will meet so many new guys in office, may be you will meet your prince charming in office. But remember never share your phone number etc on Facebook or any other social media. You never know what creep may be lurking over there. Also keep your social and public life separate. To socialize with office colleagues use LinkedIn, let us keep your boss and colleagues out of our FB, OK? And don’t go to parties alone yaar! Akhir what are friends for yaar!
3. Bratty Brother Bats Again: Though he has given his suggestion to learn karate earlier, but being a typical teenager he could not resist giving some more gyan. “Di you should also make sure you activate voice dialing on your phone, when in trouble you may not get time to dial numbers. So activate your voice dialing so that it dials quickly. Also keep the important numbers in short cut menus to act fast. And off course my number should be the first one in your list to.”
2. Mantras from Mama: Her mother was listening to all these sermons silently so far. Finally she decided to speak. “Sweety, what you ought to always remember only your confidence and presence of mind will save the day for you. I will never be able to sleep till you come home every single day. I know you are a smart girl, and I am so proud that you have decided to work for a few years while you prepare for your GMAT and save money for your higher studies. Always remember that you are your best friend, and only you can will be present when danger strikes, so always be on your toes, be confident, never give an impression that you are weak and not in control. I know your potential that even you don’t know so go out and conquer the world. I know you can.“
Be real smart add Smart Suraksha to your Phone
1. Tip from blogger uncle: “Oh my favorite niece, I can’t believe you are now going to work and step out in the big bad world out there. But I agree with your mom the most, you are a bright girl and I am sure you will shine out there. But there is no harm in taking some precautions. I would suggest you download the Smart Suraksha app on your phone. It is a one touch application which will inform the numbers chosen by you that you are in danger and also tell about your location using GPS. I know you are a smart tech savvy girl, you helped me so many times with IT issues with my blog, and I am sure you can easily install Smart Suraksha on your mobile phone. A Smart girl like you should be smart enough to understand the importance of Smart Suraksha. ( smart safety) The best part even if your GPS is not on it still tracks and beams your location. I pray you never have to use it but I want you to load it even before you step out of house.”
With this I want to close this post, we feel much more comfortable knowing that she is a very smart and intelligent girl and she takes enough precautions to keep her safe. I am sharing my Smart Suraksha Tips at BlogAdda.com in association with Smart Suraksha App.
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I promise that I will not sell, rent, or donate your email to anybody. Safe Travels
🙂 🙂 🙂
Loved the way you are vouching for the app. 🙂
Nice tips.
Thanks for stopping by Nisha….it is a good app..
Wonderful app and it is a must have for every one.
Hope it is available for all other countries too