I got onto a DTC bus this morning, number 392. Bringing a dash of color into the largely male-populated bus, a flock of ladies accompanied me inside. For those of you unaware of the government's attempt to 'provide for' the city's women, there are - correct me if I am misataken - 4 rows (8 seats) in every DTC bus marked for ladies, while the rest are, by default, for men.
Three of the rows inside my bus were occupied by men; four of these men dutifully cleared their seats for the ladies who stepped inside. Two however, sat put, avoiding all eye contact with the ladies around them.
Noticing that few ladies were actually asking them to stand up, and in need of a seat myself, I stood next to them and requested them to stand up, pointing to the sign that clearly stated that it was a seat for ladies. One of them looked down and pretended he couldn't hear me, while the other continued staring outside the window with an adamant look in his eyes, muttering some nonsense about "cleaning the seat with his own handkerchief", and thus, presumably, being entitled to the seat. WTF?
I called out to the conductor and asked him to get the guys up. A few feeble gesticulations later, he gave up. He glanced at me evasively and said that he tried, and went back to collecting money.
I stood there, silently seething. Sure, I could stand the whole way, but if I didn't do anything about it, wouldn't it encourage other men to refuse to give ladies their due? My eye caught a sign printed in archaic block-letter type:
Ladies Helpline Dial 1091.
Students Helpline Dial ***
Senior Citizens Helpline Dial ***
I got out my phone in the now-crowded bus and started dialing the Ladies Helpline number. I hesitated a moment: everybody around me would be able to hear my conversation; what if the helpline just laughed at me and hung up? Wouldn’t that only further embolden men to take over ladies’ seats, and discourage women from standing up for their rights even more?
Deciding that it was worth learning what the helpline did anyway, I called. The woman who answered sounded earnest and encouraging, and I briefly described the situation. She asked if I had asked the conductor or bus driver to get them up, and when I answered in the affirmative, she said that the next best thing that she could do was to file a complaint. When I questioned the usefulness of filing a complaint, she answered, “Madame, at least we will get the number of the bus and the name of the conductor on record for the future, so that when they park their bus for the night, some action can be taken.” This woman rocked!
She asked me to get the name of the conductor and the bus number for the complaint. Holding the phone, I informed the conductor that I was on the line with the Ladies Department of the police department, and that they wanted his name and address. Immediately, I noticed a sea-change in the attitude of the men who refused to stand up and in the bus conductor. Fear flitting across his face, the conductor began to motion to the men more vigorously and commanded them to stand up.
More importantly, however, people around me started rallying for the cause. A man sitting in a row behind where I was standing gently tapped my shoulder. “Tell the conductor that he must stop the bus at the police barrier if the men don’t stand up.” A young man sitting next to the conductor began accosting him to get the men to stand up. Pretty soon, men and women from across the bus were lambasting the men.
In a feeble attempt to salvage their dignity, they grumbled their misgivings but soon stood up and vacated the seats.
In the midst of all this, the woman from the Helpline was still holding the line. Breathlessly, my heart pounding from the confrontation, I thanked her as I sat down in my seat. As enthusiastically as she had answered the phone, she answered that it was no problem -"call us if you have any more trouble!”
So Ladies, don’t hold back – Dial 1091!
9 comments:
Ms,
Do you really think women deserve "reserved" seats?
Old or sick people definitely do.
Wasn't this supposed to be 21st Century?
Hey Smita,
I often get the same argument about how women want equality but demand bus seats to be reserved. I think equality is a state of mind-I don't want a man to treat me as though I am incapable of being CFO, but yes, I am probably not as physically strong as him. Just as he is not physically capable of bearing a child.
Most often a man and woman taking a bus to office are in very different positions. The man probably got up, got dressed, had his breakfast and set off for work. Most women have probably already done a full day of work before going to office - getting up earlier, giving breakfast and preparing tiffins and lunch for children, husband and in-laws, cleaning up the house and then setting off for work. Some might be pregnant for God's sake.
Even if none of these reasons apply to a particular woman, bus seats are a right given to me by the government. No man has the right to deny me that.
I am so glad you took up the issue immediately. We women are very often called militant. Unfortunately we have no choice but to be so.
You go girl!!!
OMG! I'm in Australia and now days not many men give up a seat - you have to ask but they can say no. How bazaar! OMG!
Hi Smita, I commend you for the action that you took. It was a fearless act, one that paves the way for other women.
Of course, this is the 21st century, and women and men deserve to be treated equally. However, men certainly have no fears of being treated licentiously by women. Any bus-going woman will affirm that they have been treated disrespectfully by men an n-number of times. Oggling, grabbing, poking in unmentionable places is common in these buses packed like sardines.
Once this difference in mutual respect is taken away, then we can speak about 'equal rights for men and women' riding buses together.
~ Sarika
wow! good going. I think women have reserved seats and a reserved section not because they are weak and can't stand .It is because if there weren't segregated sections on buses there would be more sexual harrassment than there already is now!!
this was such a great story. I also read your column and it is so refershing.
I agree with some of the comments above that if women did not have to fear sexual harassment from the men in the buses, then we wouldn't need reserved seats. But unfortunately, thats the reality.
I think its amazing that you asked him to give you a seat and took action when he refused. It is even more amazing and beautiful that the helpline worked - we are so used to expecting these things to be dysfunctional. Instead you found a government employee who wanted to help and made sure you got what you deserved. That gives me a lot of faith!
what a FANTASTIC story! Good for you! Sorry I couldnt take your call btw.. was just leaving and in a mad rush.. hope to chat soon..
It's really amazing how women don't stand by their own principles and beliefs. On one hand they claim they are not weaker than men and call for gender equality.Fine, but they themselves condradict what they say by demanding reserved seats for themselves. Mind it,I don't buy the argument that women want reservation because they don't want to be sexually harrassed. If that's the case, why do we so often find women shamelessly sitting in the general seats even when the ladies' seats are empty? What do you have to say about that? It's fine if women want to have seats exclusively for themselves and don't want to sit with men. But even then they can stand by their principles of GENDER EQUALITY. Why don't they call for reserving the remaining seats for men and swear that they won't sit in those? Do men pay less money for their journey than women do? Then why should half the seats be reserved for women? Women cry for GENDER EQUALITY only according to their own personal conveniences. They won't utter a word demanding that EQUALITY which reduces their own comfort. ISN'T THIS THE HEIGHT OF HYPOCRISY?
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