Smitha Nair was returning home from work in an autorickshaw last month, when the driver turned around and asked her, “What do you think about sex?”

The Bangalore-based graphic designer didn’t reply. Instead, she whipped out her mobile phone and made a mock call. “I don’t care if your mother is in hospital,” she shouted into the phone. “I want those designs when I get there. I will be there in 20 minutes. Is that understood,” she yelled. After hanging up, Nair asked the driver what he had said. He didn’t reply and quietly dropped her to where she was headed.

At Give It To Them (Gitt) — a Bangalore-based self-defence training school — Nair’s reaction is called the “factor self-defence principle” — an acronym for Falling and frisking, Acting, Control, Take down, Observation and Running. “She used her voice to suggest that she was an aggressive person. But she did not direct her aggression at the driver, as he could have reacted negatively,” says Ashwin Mohan, founder of Gitt, where Nair attended a self-defence workshop six months ago. “The phone call also made it clear that someone was expecting Nair in the next 20 minutes and could come looking for her,” adds Mohan.

Like Nair, 26,000 working professionals in Bangalore have attended Gitt’s day-long self-defence training programme so far. “People are increasingly working late and are out of the house at odd hours. They realise that the police are not always around to protect them. So they want to be self-reliant,” explains Mohan.

An increase in crimes such as mugging against professionals in Bangalore has also been compelling people to join self-defence courses. “They carry laptops, fancy phones and credit cards and are perceived as soft targets,” says Mohan.

COMBAT FIT: Self-defence workshops conducted by Fitcomb in progress

So young Indians are realising that self-defence is the best defence. They are training in Krav Maga (KM), an Israeli military-style combat course, getting gun licences, keeping pepper sprays in their laptop bags and even learning to beat the goons in a battle of wits.

In Bangalore, more and more software professionals are joining the “civil rifle training programme” conducted by the City Armed Reserve (CAR), a unit of the police department. The course is mandatory to obtain a gun licence. “Last year, 12 civilians enrolled for the course. This year, there were 73. A majority was IT professionals,” says a CAR official.

Meenal Gupta, 34, a human resources manager at a Bangalore firm, keeps a can of pepper spray in her bag and another one at home. The spray, when applied, can temporarily blind and immobilise a person. “I have to travel and work odd hours. I don’t want to change my lifestyle. So a pepper spray at hand makes me feel secure and self-dependent,” says Gupta, who lives alone.

Terrorism has also heightened insecurity. Lawyer Pankaj Kumar (not his real name) was supposed to meet a friend for dinner at Mumbai’s Oberoi Trident Hotel on November 26, two years ago. He couldn’t make it, but his friend was killed by militants that night. It changed Kumar’s perspective on personal safety. “I decided that if I were ever to be in such a situation, I would be better equipped,” he recalls.

Kumar joined a KM course. “Now, I can fight and disarm anyone attacking with a gun or a knife,” he claims.

Not everybody believes that such fear is justified. Social scientist Shiv Vishwanathan, in fact, feels that fear is spreading a sense of insecurity and anxiety among the urban population. “The insecurity is targeted at the general other — which means, every stranger is perceived as a terrorist or a rapist. This is a recipe for turning into a paranoid society,” warns Visvanathan.

But for some people, self-defence courses are the way to conquer fear. Not surprisingly, the number of young professionals joining the KM course conducted by Krav Maga India (KMI), a private group affiliated to the International Krav Maga Federation, Israel, increased five-fold after the 26/11 attack, says Sadashiv Mogaveera, chief instructor for Maharashtra. “A wide mix of people — including flight attendants, businessmen and housewives — want to learn how to fight,” he says. KMI conducts courses in Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Delhi and has held workshops for companies.

Some organisations are even encouraging their employees to perfect their punching and kicking skills. In Delhi, a self-defence training organisation, Fitcomb (Functional, Intense, Tactical Combat), conducts workshops for women employees, professionals who travel frequently and also for senior executives. “We give them tips on how to safely carry a laptop and credit cards and how to stay safe in a taxi or a hotel,” says Jaipreet Joshi, founder and chief instructor, Fitcomb. The programme for senior executives also focuses on handling situations such as a kidnap or hostage crisis, he adds.

Fitcomb has conducted two self-defence workshops at the Ahmedabad-based pharmaceutical company Zydus Cadila. “We found it relevant because more and more of our employees are travelling in India and overseas. Also, the risk of being a victim of crime has increased,” explains Hrishikesh Dharvatker, human resources manager at Zydus.

It doesn’t just take bulging biceps to win a fight. A Bangalore-based self-defence training academy, Aax Global, hones its clients’ mental abilities to prepare them for times of crisis. “We teach people to be psychologically prepared for a fight,” says Rana Singh, proprietor, Aax Global.

The courses are popular because most are short-term and moderately priced. A Gitt workshop, a one-time three-hour course, costs Rs 1,500, while the KMI training programme is for Rs 2,500 a month. But for those worried about the dangers that lurk round the corner, it’s a wise investment. After all, what’s time and money when your life is at stake?