City Of Joy and Not So JoyRides

Source: palssmania.com

Travelling by public transport for the last three years has been a major part of my life. As all of  us ladies know what a pain it can be, some of us do not have an alternative option.

12C/1 is a public bus which I travel by every day. However much I hate the thought of the crammed up condition in the bus, the sheer sight or even the mention of  its name is an absolute lifesaver. After a tiring day at college all, I can think of is boarding this vehicle, and hoping that I do not have to wait an hour or so for it to arrive.

 Something that I am used to while traveling is being  watched by some sickening  eyes, or realizing those eyes are staring straight at a fellow female passenger  regardless of whether she might be ten years of age or fifty. Yes, on some days I do have that confidence in me to stand up to one of those lechers and remind them that they have a mother and sisters at home,  but, on some days I do not. I do not , because sometimes a fear rises within me, a fear of a deadly sort , which overtakes me and makes me so afraid of even glancing back at the creep. I  loathe this fear within me and question myself several times as to why I should feel afraid at all when I know that there is a crowd surrounding me and nothing horrible is going to happen.

Source: www.indianamericanmom.com

However, coming back to the reason why I decided to write this. There are innumerable women who face what I face while travelling via public transport, and I'm not saying that I've had worse experiences than all of you.  We know how it is to not get a seat and stand throughout  our journey, which isn't an issue, right? Why can't we stand and travel ? The female gender has nothing less for us to give valuable and rational reasons for always wanting to sit while travelling. I agree that majority of the men also willingly give away their seats to women if they pity you enough. Ironically, the point I'm trying to raise here is that most women feel uncomfortable to stand and travel because they either have to face some man trying to penetrate from behind, feel you up, does not matter if it's just your arm, but it will be rubbed against , try to look into whatever outfit you are wearing and elicit in you that hopeless feeling , even though you might just be courageous enough and abuse him or embarrass him in front of all the co-passengers, I know what it is like to have that fear in you to not raise your voice at all. You can never stand in literal peace and not have a worry in your mind , about what might happen today.

It was a regular day of college, and I boarded my lifesaver- the name because however disgusting and sad  this daily affair might be ,it takes me home at the end of the day. So, here I was , standing in a jam-packed bus with my earphones plugged in, trying to enjoy my journey amidst all the chaos. I was standing right at the entrance since  my stop was next and I needed to get off rather soon. It was nothing unusual, that I was in a bit of an irritable mood because of the daily behavior of some male passengers. As the bus stopped at my destination, and I moved forward on my way down the stairs of the bus, this figure just stood in-front of me, right in my face.  He looked rather old, and from his demeanor, I guessed he was under the influence of something. Even though the conductor saw him standing right in the middle of my way , he didn't react. I stood there frozen, while passengers kept pouring in, the reason why I couldn't  deviate from his path and get out. In that fraction of a second, I started thinking of the extremes that some men could go to  satisfy themselves. I was afraid . And, just then another man , definitely noticing the awkward situation I was in, came up from behind and pulled this old freak out of the bus, with a few slang words he seemed to have shut the man up, and then, only then did the conductor of the bus come in support of 'my savior'.

I got off the bus, smiling. What just happened was very, very unusual and I had gotten down from a bus, SMILING. I do not want to explain the feeling because I actually cannot. Deep down , I felt , in the last one minute, I had regained my faith in humanity. Funny indeed how something so small , had made me so immensely hopeful.

-Evelyn Pope