For 26-year-old M. Shalini, the choice between working from home and the office is not just about convenience; it is also about safety. After a hectic Monday at her office housed in a gleaming corporate tower in Hyderabad’s Gachibowli, she dreads the next day at her paying guest (PG) accommodation, where unease lurks behind every door and window.
At home, privacy is a luxury, and she is reduced to walking on eggshells. “We feel conscious even about opening our windows,” she says. “Whenever I work from home, I avoid stepping into the corridor or interacting with anyone.
The men from the PG across the street stare, pass lewd comments, and even peer through cracks in the window glass. It is unsettling. I feel much safer at the office.
” The unease doesn’t end indoors. Outside, a more insidious threat follows her. For the past six months, a young man from the neighbourhood has been stalking her — tracking her routine, watching her even in daylight.
When she reported the matter to the hostel management, their response was cold and dismissive: “This is none of our concern”. A software professional at a multinational company, Shalini has spent the past year and a half in Indira Nagar, Gachibowli, an area packed with PGs and hostels but lacking in security. Her five-storey building houses over 100 women, but there is no one to turn to for safety concerns.
“Recently, a supervisor was hired, but his role is limited to managing food, electricity and plumbing issues.�.
