US student who studied in India speaks of her traumatising experience

Chicago, Aug 22: Recounting her horrible yet memorable experience at India, a Chicago University student has posted her powerful account on CNN iReport under the user name RoseChasm. Michaela Cross, who was in India for a study trip last year, returned back, post her studies and was diagonsed with post-traumatic stress disorder that was a result of the sexual harassment, groping and many other worse incidents that she experienced during her stay here.

Her story titled "India: The Story You Never Wanted to Hear" has struck a chord with many women across the world and has more than 800,000 page views as of Wednesday morning, CNN reported.
Cross, a fair-skinned and- red haired South Asian who studies major, left India a few days before the Delhi gang rape of a 23-year old girl took place. The incident she says helped others to understand what she and her fellow students went through.

In her essay posted on the CNN website she writes: "Do I tell them about our first night in the city of Pune, when we danced to the Ganesha festival, and leave it at that? Or do I go on and tell them how the festival actually stopped when the American women started dancing, so that we looked around to see a circle of men filming our every move?

"Do I tell them about bargaining at the bazaar for beautiful saris costing a few dollars a piece, and not mention the men who stood watching us, who would push by us, clawing at our breasts and groins?
"When people compliment me on my Indian sandals, do I talk about the man who stalked me for 45 minutes after I purchased them, until I yelled in his face in a busy crowd?"

"How it feels to be a woman in India." Cross struggled to tell about her cultural experience was both beautiful and traumatising.

Later, in her essay she writes: "For three months I lived this way, in a traveller's heaven and a woman's hell. I was stalked, groped, masturbated at; and yet I had adventures beyond my imagination. I hoped that my nightmare would end at the tarmac, but that was just the beginning."

The university on the other hand refused to comment on Cross condition but confirmed that she was indeed a student there and that they were committed towards a student's safety at home and abroad.

OneIndia News