Why don’t women go to mosques in India? Are they told by the clergy not to or do they just prefer to pray in the privacy of their homes? I am often asked these questions. I decided to find out for myself—without googling.

On a breezy autumn evening two years ago, I was strolling the serpentine lanes of the bustling, grimy Zakir Nagar market along with two friends—one of them in a burqa, the other in a salwar-kameez. Amidst the noise of the bazaar, the chatter of women and the whirr of passing motorbikes, we heard the azaan or the call for prayer. A stream of men gathered quickly and walked past the gate of the Hari Masjid that stood tall on the other side of the lane. The mosque took its name from its coat of green paint.

Suddenly, I had a “crazy” idea. I told my friends we should go inside the mosque and pray. I call that a “crazy idea” because of my audacity in thinking I would be allowed to enter in what I was wearing—an animal-printed flowing skirt that ended a little above my feet and a half-sleeved top (any imagery that resembles human or animal form is considered by most Muslims as not fitting to be worn while offering prayers).

My friends went along with the idea. We decided to wait till the men went inside the mosque. An old man in a skullcap stood at the gate of the mosque. We presumed he was the caretaker and asked him if we could pray inside. I was quite sure he wouldn’t let me in (I was once refused entry inside the India Islamic Cultural Centre because I was wearing a dress; though they had let me dine in their restaurant Dilli Dastarkhwan.)

... contd.