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    Single women are often denied the basic right to a roof over their heads: Shikha Makan

    Synopsis

    I faced a lot of problems when I moved to Mumbai 10 years ago. It was one of the reasons I decided to make the film, along with the stories I heard from people around me, said Makan.

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    At first I didn’t realise that brokers were saying I won’t get a flat in a particular building because I was single, said Makan.
    When ad filmmaker Shikha Makan moved to Mumbai, she realised that the city of dreams could become a nightmare for single women when it came to finding apartments. It became the basis for her documentary Bachelor Girls. The discrimination in housing is a widespread issue, she tells Indulekha Aravind:

    What was your own experience house-hunting in Mumbai?
    I faced a lot of problems when I moved to Mumbai 10 years ago. It was one of the reasons I decided to make the film, along with the stories I heard from people around me. At first I didn’t realise that brokers were saying I won’t get a flat in a particular building because I was single. When I finally moved into a place with my sister, the security guards would stare at us and ask our visitors many questions. One night, I requested a male colleague to walk me to my building. The chairman of the society came out at 2 am and began calling me names, said my colleague was my client and threatened to call the police. I was very young at that time and had a meltdown. We finally moved out.

    What has the response to the documentary been?
    When I began talking to various women for the film, I realised this was an actual phenomenon. When the promos of Bachelor Girl released, horror stories began pouring in from all parts of the country. The housing discrimination against single women is a widespread issue. In a negative way, one is being told that the only acceptable tag is that of a married woman. On the one hand, we say that emancipation of women means educating them and making them financially independent. But when a woman achieves these two aspects, you deny her the basic right to a roof above her head.

    How did apartment owners react to the film?
    A lot of people refused to speak to me because they thought I was exaggerating. There was a lot of denial. One person vehemently spoke about our sanskriti and that women are not supposed to be coming back home late at night. In India we live in many centuries simultaneously. I feel that women in India have evolved faster than the society has.

    Are things improving?
    We are a society in transition. Though the women in my film and I myself had to face these issues, we are all survivors and winners. Rarely have women quit and gone back. There’s still motivation to do what we want to do. We are not keeping quiet. That in itself is very healing.


    ( Originally published on Mar 03, 2018 )

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