A tiring day at work is over, phew and I am onto my train back home and as usual its crowded and I as usual ask a lady politely I must add “ Aunty where are you getting off” ..
Well for people who are not Mumbaites “its really really OK to ask people this question cause it gives you an idea as to when you get to rest your legs and get a seat so that there is no fight for a seat later. Everyday this is a ritual for ladies who travel by the railways and if you were to count the number of times it is said it would equivalent to the population of the ladies who travel by train and don’t get a seat. Its a way of life and absolutely normal.
Well getting back to the situation. The lady just snarls at me, “where I get off is none of your business”. I am startled of course and I ask her if she is new in Mumbai and she snarls back, “ I was born in Mumbai” and I can clearly see that she doesn’t know as to how it works in Mumbai. And the shocking part is that as I keep quite and just said to myself ”she is an elderly woman and my upbringing doesn’t permit me to fight with her when she suddenly in a hushed tone retorts “ silly bitches, why do they want to know where I have to get off”.
The point here is I thought elders were to teach us people to behave our selves and be patient and be concerned and nice and here I was with a lady the same age as my mother who was just the opposite of what I normally would expect someone to be.
Where has the niceness, caring loving nature of Mumbai gone, do we need a 26th July rains to bring it out.
Everyday as I get into trains there is no care in the world as to whom we are pushing out in a bid to get into the trains. We know that there are 100 people in a space with a capacity of 50 people , but we need our space, we need no pushing and then we wont pushing a few people out and then of course where is the patience of the elderly woman who used the same trains to travel to college in their younger days but swear at the young girls going to college and of course the huge discourse and loud discussion of the saas bahu serials despite knowing that there are a group of girls trying very hard to do a last minute study in the train and trying to hush them up by asking them to study in their homes,
We will write and read 10 books with god’s prayers on it but when it comes to offering a seat to people who have been standing for quite some time or some pregnant lady we forget that in serving these people will we get closer to god.
Lets take for example the day when I signaled a rickshaw to ferry me to the station and an old man comes running from no where and gets into the rick and when questioned by the driver, just says “ so what you can join me if you want” ….where are all the manners and where are the lessons.
We are told to be tolerant at home but as we venture out we loose of it, as we walk on the station …if that’s how we loose it then how are we supposed to go through the rest of the day.
Men are taught to respect ladies and help them but when we see the monkeys on the top of a train or the men even in the first class compartment eve teasing and passing derogatory remarks when they see the ladies coach pass by where does teaching go.
It upsets me cause just a few months back there was this debate on Mumbai being the most civil city and we threw 26th July back on the faces of the research analysts of Readers Digest.
We have a chance to show we care everyday why do we need adversaries to bring the good in us. Lending a helping hand to a lady trying to get in, helping a blind guy get into the disabled coach and just being civil and answering back in case someone asks you if you will be off your seat sometime soon.
It’s ok to be nice to your friends and relatives and associates….lets try and be nice to strangers for a change I guess that could make a hell lot of a difference.
