Tillotama Shome responds to user who questioned her anxiety after women safety post: ‘How sensitive of you’

Tillotama Shome has spoken about the fear women carry even during everyday moments, after watching a young woman at a traffic signal in Mumbai’s Juhu.

Bollywood actor Tillotama Shome has spoken about the fear women carry even during everyday moments, after watching a young woman at a traffic signal in Mumbai’s Juhu. The actor shared a detailed note on Instagram about the incident, describing how she found herself worrying about the woman’s safety even though nothing actually happened.

Tillotama Shome answers user who questioned her Juhu post: ‘You are trying to turn this conversation…’ (PTI)

The actor, known for her work in Monsoon Wedding, Qissa and Delhi Crime, has often spoken about women's safety and her own experiences of navigating public spaces. In her latest post, she reflected on how difficult it can be to simply switch off that instinct to stay alert.

What happened at the Juhu traffic signal

Tillotama recalled seeing a young woman standing on the footpath at a traffic signal in Juhu. The woman was using her phone and appeared completely relaxed. She wrote, “Yesterday at a traffic light in Juhu, I saw a young girl standing on the footpath, leaning against a metal railing, busy on her phone”.

The actor noticed men walking past the woman and looking at her. “Some looked at her, just looked at her. Some glances lingered, but there was nothing offensive,” she added.

Her anxiety increased when another man walked “very close” to the woman. Tillotama considered getting out of her car, even though she knew there was no immediate reason to intervene. “That man just passed, nothing happened,” she wrote, before reminding herself, “This is Bombay, relax, relax”.

A nightmare made her think about hospitals

The incident also stayed with Tillotama after she left. A nightmare a few days later brought back the same fear in a different setting. "A few nights ago, someone I know was in hospital. I woke up with a nightmare this morning," she wrote. “Are hospitals safe for us? A sedated woman on a hospital bed, is she safe?”

Her concerns come at a time when a case involving a woman at Civil Hospital in Panipat has also raised questions about safety inside medical facilities. The National Human Rights Commission took suo motu cognisance of allegations that a 57-year-old woman was raped during a diagnostic test before she died while undergoing treatment.

Tillotama also acknowledged the contradiction in her own reaction. At the Juhu traffic signal, nothing had happened. "But nothing happened," she wrote. She then added, “Even when nothing happens here, it happens there, to someone in some part of my country”.

Tillotama has previously spoken about women safety

Tillotama has previously spoken about how years of using public transport in Delhi affected the way she viewed people around her. She is an alumna of Lady Shri Ram College and has said she spent 17 years travelling around Delhi using public transport. She wrote that people "break again and again to come together again and again" because they continue to hope for an "Incredible India".

Her note comes at a time when India is witnessing cases after cases of rapes, molestation, harassment, moral policing and more. In New Delhi recently, a 17-year-old minor was raped. In Bihar, two students were harassed and the video went viral on social media.

Responds to a comment

A user later deleted his comment after responding to Tillotama’s post. According to the her, he suggested that she may have anxiety issues and should consult a doctor. He also questioned why she did not simply ask the woman she was concerned about to sit in her car instead of writing about the incident online.

Tillotama responded to the criticism in the comments, explaining why she chose to share her experience and addressing the suggestion that her post was driven by anxiety. She wrote, “Welcome to the conversation. Thank you for your inputs.How sensitive of you . One day you will be anxious, and that day we won’t make fun of you. Doctors are committing suicide. Anxiety is a pandemic. Even if you don’t understand it at the moment, or have the language to articulate it. I Hope for your own sake and for the women in your life, that day comes soon. Until then take care. P.s: I did think of asking her to get in to my car. Then I thought she will think I am mad. You are trying to turn this conversation towards my privilege. Am aware of it. I have used public transport all my life until Covid. I worked hard to earn that privilege and I won’t apologise for it. Explaining all this to you , because if you could understand where this post comes from, we will all feel that much safer. Thank you."

Tillotama Shome via Instagram.

About her work

On the work front, Tillotama Shome was most recently seen in Netflix's Ikka, which released in July. Directed by Siddharth P. Malhotra, the courtroom drama stars her alongside Sunny Deol and Akshaye Khanna.