I was at the transport nagar bus station in agra, waiting for a bus that would take me to my college. My college happened to be right in between the twin cities of Agra and Mathura (25 km from each). While Agra is known for its architecture of moghul period, Mathura is considered a holy city in India. A rickety bus (thats how most buses were in this part of India) came after about 10 min of wait. While i tried to get on the bus, the ticket conductor was trying to push out a girl from the bus. I stood out of the bus gate to wait for the girl to come down and watched was happening. Apparently the girl wanted to go to Mathura but maybe didn't have money to get a ticket. The ticket conductor therefore wanted her to leave the bus, as this was the last bus station in Agra. After this it was a 50 km ride to Mathura and no stoppages in between. The girl on the other hand was trying her best to hang on, pleading to conductor to allow her travel. As it was evening time, soon the night would fall one could understand the desperateness on her part to reach home. But one would understand the conductor's point as this girl could easily be a cheat and nothing more. Moreover if the bus is checked en route, the risks losing his job. I was thinking all this, when finally the girl gave up and came down the bus. I then went in and took a seat. All this hoollah booh had attracted the attention of all the passengers into the scene. i could hear all sorts of whispers in the background, some condemning the conductor and showing sympathy towards the girl, while some being more practical and supporting the conductor. When i took a close look at the girl, i saw she had no shoes/sandals, but she did have some jewelery. Also the girl was not wearing a chunri. A chunri is an add on which women wrap around their neck. Its an add on ok, but it is something which a female would necessarily wear in India. So seeing this female, it looked that things are not normal. Either something is wrong with her or something wrong has happened to her. Anyways, so i was sitting on seat, looking at the girl who was now standing on the road and staring at the bus in anger, and there were passengers looking at her out of the window. As the conductor signaled to the driver to move the bus, the driver asked him what was the matter. This driver was an old man, must be about to retire. The conductor explained to him the situation. The driver thought for a minute and then requested the conductor (more of a command), to allow the girl to travel. In Indian buses, the one who is elder usually commands more respect irrespective of what the job is. And so when the driver asked, the conductor readily accepted it and called the girl to come inside. Not only the conductor, but even some of the passengers signaled out of their windows to the girl to come in. It seemed they were all somewhere within wanting to not leave the poor girl like this, but were just taking a stand. It also seemed that even the conductor was regretting to push the girl out of bus, and was just waiting for someone to request him to change his mind. And so just as the driver made a request, a whole lot of people waved to the girl to come in. When the girl climbed in the bus, the driver signaled her to sit next to him on the bonnet of engine. Its a common practice for passengers in India to sit on the bonnet if a seat is not available. As the girl was trying to settle down, the driver tried to console her and as a sign of it put is hand on her head. India if an elderly puts his hand on somebody's head its regarded as a sign of well wishing or consolation. And just as he put his hand on her head the girl burst out in tears. It seems all this while she was trying to control her tears. It seems the tears were just about ready to come out. It happens with all of us. When we feel humiliated, we want to control our emotions. Not show to people how bad we are feeling inside.And we control them. But when somebody out of no where expresses some kind of solace, one just bursts out. One just lets go what all is within. Something similar i was experiencing that day, though from a distance. I'm sure even the conductor felt relieved that in the end he didn't had to leave her there. People are not bad, nor do they want to be but sometimes they are forced to be. And it must be a big relief if one is somehow saved of doing something bad.
The bus started and i got down at my college after 20 min.
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5 comments:
Yes I remembered this incident as soon as I read the heading. It was well told too.. I'm glad you've started blogging! I can't wait to read the rest.
oye yeh sab kab hua....
nice one boss...
keep writing...
just one thing, why stopped in taking the stance.
Was it fear or greed of parting with Rs 50 or was it more of, what people will say, why a young boy want to help this girl. I know this one is common in India, and i think i would have hessitated the same way. but now after reading your story and some aging, i think it is time that we start taking some decisions on our own and without the worry of people. The condition however should be that we should be clear of what we are doing is right
i agree, we now need to take stands and be very clear about them. i don't think in such cases the fear is about money, it's more of what people would say. also we have been trained since our childhood to stay away from matters not concerned to us. i think it's a mixture of both....BUT it's time for people like us to take a lead in such situations.
these actions seem nice.. but how many people do that.. in my place, towards the "more developed" place you might say, such a situation would be really really uncommon..
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