TO SIT OR NOT TO SIT..

Last time when I was on my way back to college by bus… My eyes fell on an editorial in a newspaper.. It was on the subject of women’s reservation in Parliament. Not for a single day since I came to this planet.. I have supported this reservation thing at the very first place. If I put a priority order, the ‘reservation’ option just lies above the option ‘FINALLY WE CANNOT DO ANYTHING’ so it’s just the penultimate measure to a disaster..Whatever..We were talking about women’s reservation.

I find it absurd when women call for reservation. First they shout at the top their vocal cords’ TREAT US AT PAR WITH MEN’ & once you treat them equal they raise the anthem of reservation. The bus to my college was still moving smoothly. There was some good oldie song being played in the music system of the bus. Anyway women. They never leave a stone unturned to prove they are much better than men. You see whenever any results are announced; media floods everything with news saying ‘women outplayed men’ and ‘fairer sex proved their mantle yet again’. I can’t recall whether I read a single article saying a ‘man conquered the fort at women’s backyard’.They can say this about fashion industry, interior designing, cooking which are socially considered as a territory of womenfolk..but who’s interested? I don’t know what struck the driver he suddenly decided to play Mr. Reshammiya. To be very honest I am not too talented to bear his kind of music but there are some things in life which are certainly not under my control. So where were we? & yes During an IPL match I heard Priety Zinta saying” I m proud to be the first woman entering into a men’s dressing room? It’s a great day for the women of his part of world”. Well Shahrukh Khan is the first man to be featured in LUX soap advertisement. Should he shout” This is an achievement for every man on this earth that a man managed to appear in promotion of a soap considered exclusively for women”

By this time all you ladies out there must have used at least a millions of censored adjectives for me and have prepared thousands of counter evidences to put my opinion down to soil.

The bus halted at the next stop. I turned the page of newspaper to entertainment section to check the status of Kareena Kapoor..who is exactly her lucky duck at the moment? A women entered into the bus. She was not very much tall. She was wearing a routine saree. Not too costly even. There was a bag in her hand. It wasn’t an air bag or branded ADIDAS(One of my friend told me it means ALL DAY I DREAM ABOUT SPORTS, Well the evening when she told me this was very beautiful) . The bag was like a free carrier you get from a garment store with your purchase. The bus started moving. She was looking like a normal middle class woman. She wasn’t having long hair. Neither they were bob-cut, they were somewhere in between. It wasn’t looking stylish and one can easily infer that they were cropped just because it was getting difficult for the lady to manage long hair. But she was a showcase of self respect. Her purse was at least an year old. & outer zip was out of order. Somehow she managed to take the tickets. I wish the male conductor would have been a bit polite. She said nothing. Took the ticket ,she move on to fourth seat. The bag was a bit corpulent and wasn’t fitting in the space provided. At least somebody must rose up and should help her. Not because she is incapable but it’s a point of humanity to help fellow people. Even I wasn’t an exception as I was sitting unmoved. The bus was crowded. She managed to get just behind my seat. I closed the newspaper. She held the bag from left hand and adjusted her glasses with right. Even the frame of her glasses wasn’t looking too costly. She did it. She asked no one to help her. The bag was into the luggage area. She was standing now, somehow in this crowded bus. Why don’t these bus services provide a women’s seat? It must been at some corner and a man with a fat stomach, dark moustaches would have captured it with a great degree of smugness & would willingly fight with her over why not to give her the seat? So it would be quite a daunting task for this highly respectable woman. I don’t know what struck me. I stood up & offered her my seat. First, she hesitated but slight insist did the job. It really felt good inside. Why? I am not sure. May be I gave her the reverence she deserved.

I am still against reservation of any kind & Ms. Zinta’s statement will make me angry for some more time, though she really looks great on screen. May be for some more years I will be forced to read the accomplishment of women after every declaration of result. It will definitely be irritating. And yes Shahrukh was really pathetic in that LUX advertisement. Sorry Tanay but that’s true.

 I was constantly searching where is that women’s seat? I stood there without a seat for almost an hour& Mr. driver never ceased to play Himesh. Finally came the college. May be this time I could learn some more full forms of brands from my friend. The moment I was about to get down from the bus, I discovered that It was my seat that was reserved for women. I didn’t know how to react? Only thing I could do was to say thanks to that lady for lending me your seat for more than five hours. But she was sleeping.

When I got down from the bus my leave and identity card was checked to ensure I am not an intruder. Everything was fine. I belonged to the college. I was allowed to get in.