After a long and tiring day, it was the time to go home. But
the idea of traveling from Dwarka to Noida and that too in metro seemed like a
nightmare to me. Like all the hundreds of other people waiting for the train, I
was also praying that I get a seat. The metro came, the doors opened and
everyone rushed inside in search of the most precious thing of the time – a place
for their bums to rest. But amongst all of them it was me who succeeded.
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| picture:google |
After 6 days of night
shift, with 3 days of no sleep at all and 12 hours of continuous traveling on my
week off, the joy of grabbing a seat was not less than winning a battle. As the
metro moved I counted the number of stations- 36! That means not less than an
hour and a half, I calculated. But at least I had a place to sit. While I was
thinking about all these things, a harsh and rude voice interrupted me. Excuse
me! I looked up, she was a girl in her early 20’s wearing a black spaghetti and
a skirt or to be precise a mini skirt or to be more precise a micro mini skirt.
(Statuary warning: Before accusing me of being a sexist or a male
chauvinist, you should read the whole article)
She continued in the same rude voice, "You are sitting on a Ladies
seat." All my happiness of winning a seat in that rush went into vain. I felt like
shouting at her, “Look at me, can’t you see the tiredness on my face. You are
traveling alone, why can’t you go into the ladies coach. If I can travel
without a seat, why can’t you do the same? And then people like you will talk
about equality.” But I couldn't say all those things because being a boy, at times you are
helpless . I silently stood up.
30 stations to go .Another bunch of young girls entered the
coach, an old lady also came in, the place reserved for old people were
occupied by people equally old as her, then she looked at the ladies’ seat,
young girls including the one in the micro-mini was sitting their, but they did not
find the need of offering her the seat, as if offering seats is only a man’s
duty. Finally it was a boy sitting next to them who got up.
26 stations to go.My attention now shifted to the young
girls who entered the coach with the old lady.
And this was not because they were too beautiful or attractive but
because of their peculiar behavior. All of them were looking at the micro-mini
skirt girl or to be precise at her legs. If a boy would have done the same it
would have been called ‘peeping inside the skirt’. So I take the leverage of saying
that a bunch of young girls were peeping inside another young girl’s skirt.
15 more left. All the way these girls were pointing fingers
at her and talking something about her which of course I couldn't listen. I
looked around, there was nobody else not even a boy looking at her. 8 more
stations to go….
Somehow my destination station came, I came out along with
those girls, I was not interested in looking or hearing anything around
but one of the girls' comment caught my ears. “ She was looking like a slut”.
Her friends agreed, one of them replied, “She should not have wore the skirt at
all,” and they all exited laughing.
They were all modern educated girls. If they themselves can't
respect the attire of another girl, how can they expect the opposite gender to do the same? Who was being sexist, me, the other boys or the girls????? Who was
being disrespectful????
At least not me. I
left my seat in respect for a girl who did not do the same in respect for
someone much older and in much more need of that seat.
Well my journey of being respectful was so tiring that I
couldn't get up today to go to my office. But there's always a positive side of
being good, I finally got time to sit at home and write a blog after so many
days!
