From fun things like flash mob and foosball to safety on the streets, from good job opportunities to good-looking guys and from a statement against spit-o-cracy to a call for equality - the wishes are as varied as the women.

#GirlsJustWannaHaveFun

I am 20 years young and it is time my city changed a bit to make life a little easier and more fun.

First up, flash mobs and dance battles is something to look forward to. Also, more gigs, concerts and stand-up comedy shows, all of course with easy-on-the-pocket tickets. Second, community screening of movies doesn't hurt. It could be a way for neighbours and all the para people to come together, bond and get to know each other rather than building their impressions based on gossip from far and near.

Third, more takeaway food outlets of various cuisines from American to Thai, Italian and Continental because even when most of us demand good food, we always get a reality-check when we look into our wallets. Not everyone can visit Chili's or Café Mezzuna frequently.

Fourth, enough with the entire hookah bar craze! A place where you can play foosball, Twister, paintball or a game of Scrabble or engage in bowling, water zorbing or skating could be way more fun.

Fifth, today's youth is very enthusiastic and does not want to depend on the parents. Hence, more paid internships would be much appreciated.

Sixth, and the most important point, I don't like getting out from a friend's place to find the roads empty with just a few dogs barking. I wish for more public transport at night, especially cabs with female drivers, to ensure safety and fewer calls from anxious parents.

#WhereHaveAllTheYouthGone

Having lived in Calcutta almost all of my 23 years, the city has a special place in my heart. When it comes to passion for something (think the crowd at Eden), no Indian city in the country compares to Calcutta. But what the city lacks is the young. The moment teenagers are done with their basic education, they want to move out of the city and settle elsewhere. Why? 'Because Calcutta is still stuck in the '70s,' is the common argument, even though the city is charming for the very same reason. What I would really like for this city is to provide good enough job opportunities so that the youth aren't forced to move out.

We also need the city to be safe. Yes, Calcutta is probably safer than many Indian cities, but the point is not to be 'safer', it is to be 'safe'. Safe enough for a woman to travel alone at night without having to look over her shoulder a hundred times. And yes, cabs that are easily available, and ones that don't refuse to take you to your destination or charge an exorbitant amount to take you there; autowallahs who don't scream at you for not being able to pay the Rs 8 fare in change; streets that don't immediately flood after an hour's rain... all this will help transform Calcutta into a joyous place. These and a few more breakfast places, a great amusement park and good-looking boys with a sense of humour.

#GuitarGals

The other day during one of those YouTube browsing moments I stumbled upon the Dum Dum Girls. Dum Dum Girls! The group's name caught my attention, made me sit upright as I clicked play and wondered if these girls were actually from Dum Dum! The name Dum Dum Girls sounded so cool.

They were four girls. One of them killing it on the drums, another plucking away on bass and two of them letting their guitars rip while breaking into a song. Oozing rockstar spunk, a touch of glam and a dash of quirk, they looked great, sounded great and were super-addictive.

They are actually a quartet of girls from Los Angeles who had already owned this part of the map and done what I wish talented girls from Dum Dum or Ballygunge or Salt Lake were doing.

The idea of an all-girl band on Calcutta's ground has always been thin, well almost non-existent. I am 35 and I've wanted to be a part of one since my teens, with no success.

And there's reason why a band with only girls doesn't complete the circle. It's common practice when children are hand-held into music, boys get to twirl drumsticks and strum on guitars, bass and double bass while girls rarely get to cross over to that side of the musical territory and remain content singing or playing the piano and flute.

I wonder why we see only a handful of girls turn up at a mosh pit and stick out as if in need of protection off stage or attention on it. Why is it that loud and heavy music is boys' forte while girls belong to the crowd?

I wish to see more girls in our city try their hand at those hobbies, which have clearly been established as a guy thing. I want them to edge over all the boy bands on the rise and tear down pubs, clubs and studios.

And by girl bands I don't mean a prototype of Spice Girls or All Saints. It's been almost two decades since they made a splash. They're pop legends now. But they also continue to be a reminder that the presence of girl bands or girls with their hands on the drums, electric guitars, bass, trumpet or saxophone too needs to be taken seriously. Being female doesn't necessarily define music but fun, fashionable and incredibly talented girls coming together musically could turn out to be a much-needed shot in the arm for the local music scene.

Time some girls strode in, blurred the lines, turned up their sweet voice as well as the growl and got the city's music scene fabulously girl-powered.

#GiftOfTheGob

It starts with that eerie feeling on your part and a sudden jerky movement on his. Your adrenaline has rushed and you want to rush under cover, but too late. He has already summoned it with a reverberating call from the depths of his soul and like a spirit awakened, it cannot go back. It will come out. It lands at your feet. No, on your foot. The soft blob of mucous that he nurses within him, to dispense with strategically at certain moments in a premeditated, descending and inevitable arc.

Yes, he has spat. Yet again.

The last time it happened to me, I was in front of the new New Market, where men sell bags from sheets spread on empty slots in the parking space. These are ever-shifting shops, for they move the moment a car comes in, to the next slot, and this itself can make one very dizzy. And then a man in front of me, a bag-seller, made that sudden jerky movement - and pthooo - he had done it. On my right foot.

I summoned all the courage of my 46 years and confronted him.

'Why did you do this?' I pointed at my foot.

He looked away.

'Why did you do this?' I repeated.

'But it was the road,' he answered this time.

That was all he would say: he had spat on the road. Meaning: a) It is all right to spit on the road because it belongs to everyone. b) I had no business coming in the way.

I asked for water to wash my foot, screaming. He ran away.

Three questions formed in my mind.

• Why is it that women don't spit like this? The women who do don't count. It is the same percentage of women who don't find Benedict Cumberbatch hot.
• What is it that makes men spit like this? Why can't they keep their body fluids to themselves, especially in a crowded, impossible city like Calcutta?
• Does rape have the same trajectory?

There. Before you accuse me of being a feminist, I want to say this: I want men to just stop spitting.

#WeAreEqual

I have never really understood the concept of celebrating Women's Day. In my opinion, womanhood should be celebrated every minute of every day.

I am 54 and I have been working in this city, as a journalist, for the past 28 years. I have noticed many changes in the city during my long stint in this profession. But I have not seen much change in the mindset of people towards working women. When I still see women in Calcutta being judged for their late working hours, it saddens me.

Almost three decades ago, when I used to return home from office in the late evening hours, I would often hear people passing lewd remarks. I still see young women waiting at bus stops after work in many parts of the city facing the same remarks. I would love to see Calcutta transformed to a city where no street is unsafe for a woman at any hour of the day or night.

As the mother of a young daughter, I would be happy if I didn't have to worry if she was returning home late alone and I didn't have to call her every few minutes to ensure she was safe.

I think there are few cities in India where women enjoy as much freedom as men do in a family. But I am glad to see young girls taking up challenging jobs in the city. When I joined the profession there was hardly any woman photographer in the city. Now I find many young women working as photojournalists.

To some extent this change has been possible because women in this city have proved their abilities and also shown the will to overcome every hurdle to achieve their goals.

What is your expectation from the city on Women's Day? Tell ttmetro@abpmail.com