‘Don’t worry about the leopard. It’s a man you don’t want to run into’: Delhi women reclaim the outdoors
On a wildlife walk in the Indian capital, a group of women share their stories of trying to enjoy nature in a city where strangers feel entitled to harass them
Vallari Sheel wishes she could carry a camera or a pair of binoculars without being asked what her father does for a living. Once, looking at a tree in her south Delhi neighbourhood, about 50 metres away from her home, a man in a car screamed at her: “You have been clicking photos here for 10 days. What are you going to do with them?”
Sheel, an urban ecologist, spends hours observing trees of all types in all seasons. She often travels by car for her own safety, worries about the impact of her work on her family, and has clear guidance for her female interns when they are, inevitably, approached: don’t engage, don’t respond.
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© Photograph: Romita Saluja

© Photograph: Romita Saluja

© Photograph: Romita Saluja








