Skip to main content

My commute back and forth...

By

I had written this some time back, but was not sure about posting it since I was not aware it would strike a chord with anyone. But then, I saw the article "These Experiences On The Delhi Metro Will Make You A Tad Nostalgic", and especially the one I have pasted below. It struck me then, that perhaps, I was not the only one feeling like this.


This is something that I often see on the metro while travelling to and from office. Most often from office. An incident that occurred a some days ago upset me most. A lady boarded the metro, she was perspiring, the coach was not very crowded, so she planted her bags in a corner, looked around and sat down, on her bags. Hmmm… I thought there were announcements in both Hindi and English that requested passengers not to do just this. But, she did nevertheless, want to take a wild guess why? Because no one offered her a seat. This woman may have been in her mid-50's if not older, visibly wrinkled and was also looking like she would collapse any minute. Ok! I am sure she can deal with a few stations before she actually collapses. She pulled out her bottle of water, took a gulp and looked around again. This time so did I. What I noticed, caught me off guard, another girl, much younger than her, saw her looking and made a beeline for the seat that had just been vacated as she boarded the train. All this while the  woman had just about managed to get up and collect one of the two bags she had with her, dragging the second behind her. Then she noticed the seat was taken and looked around in dismay for another. She tried to hurry to the other corner which had an empty seat, when another two girls squeezed into this space. It seems that just as she chose to ignore the announcement about not sitting on the floor, these other passengers chose to ignore the other announcement, "…please offer the seat to someone who is needier than you".

The thoughts that raced through my head - what is happening to us, are we becoming so self-absorbed that we don't notice needier people or so callous that we don't care?

Perhaps, these girls were unwell, tired or had some other  very good reason, that I was not aware of. But, this is the situation always, and when I say that, I really mean always. Women with toddlers, babies, pregnant women everyone is standing, looking around with pleading eyes, desperate eyes or whatever those expressions are. But, no one, ever, offers them their seat! What is happening to us as a society, pushing, shoving, snapping?
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most read ones here:

Racing to be fair!

By
I remember when I was younger; I was given these messages about beauty being fair, dainty and polished for girls. How was it for the boys, tall, dark and handsome? Well, somewhere down the line beauty and the eyes of the beholder parted ways and forgot to inform us. Why because every advertisement today about creams is no longer about protecting our skin against dryness or chafing, only because we want to, but about the colour of our skin. Ours here has extended in the past few years to that of men's as well. The TDH will no longer do, being the quintessential working woman and metrosexual man now means that we all need to be white.    Even if we choose to   ignore the warnings about mercury content in these creams , can we really ignore the racism that they promote? Now, how is that not racism? Or did we forget that   apartheid   was about being treated badly because of dark skin colour? I think that the present should not learn from history? A...
Post a Comment
Read more

It all began when...

By
It all began when I willingly became the recipient of the sperm that found its way to the egg. That too in the missionary position! No, this isn’t about sex. It’s about the aftermath – the baby. So after a long and tiresome 5 year planning (these were the days when the planning commission actually existed), I was carrying. Pregnancy by far the most amazing time of my life but it was also the scariest, most guilt ridden, and tiring time too (I think it gives you a preview for actually having a kid). During my tenure, I was astounded and fazed with all the information of what I should and shouldn't do while pregnant. Everything finished off with "to be on the safe side, just avoid it." Well that's great, only that then I’d be expected to sit in Fort Knox eating washed, organic paalak and popping folic acid week after week if I did that. As much as I wanted to turn a blind eye to all these scare tactics, I couldn't help but think "what if". Wha...
Post a Comment
Read more

Marriage Matters - 1

By
Image source:  Esposas de Matrimonio Last time when I wrote about our obsession with fairer a.k.a white skin and how that is racism . A friend pointed out that this extends to marriage as well. That is, our obsession, among a list of other things, extends to marriage too. Thus, it got me thinking about the pressures that we have to face to get married, the before and after of it all. It starts at home and then goes on with relatives, friends and everyone else around us.    Marriage is the milestone for most girls right after graduation so that she does not become too old to find an appropriate match , or bear children. It is also because hopefully, she will not have met someone and decided for herself whom to marry. The ‘gods’ forbid, she is 'senseless' enough to select someone outside of her community! What a shame! Boys often face the pressure of marriage as soon as they get their first job. Now that their market value is established. Especially, if he...
Post a Comment
Read more