A Chosen Involvement

I was travelling by train to Goregaon a few weeks back on official work and since its just four stations away from Borivali, I found myself a safe spot near the footboard and started enjoying the wintry breeze caress my face as the train gathered speed. Barely did it stop at the next station than these four rowdy male youth entered the compartment and stood on the footboard to commence their journey.
Now, im usually a person who prefers turning a blind eye to such nuisances than getting involved, but on this one instance, I just could not stop myself from reminding them that they had no right to travel in the ladies compartment.
In reply to that, the guys just shot back saying they knew exactly where they were and I had no right to interfere in their business. This was followed by a barrage of unruly remarks from them which did not shock me as much as the silence from the other women. Not one single co passenger supported me in this and I was left alone to bear the brunt of getting involved.

A few days later I was travelling in the ladies' first class compartment of my regular train when I heard an uproar in the adjacent compartment. I couldn’t see what was happening but interpreted the give and take of abuses as a fight of the first class ladies versus a non first class traveller, who had dared to occupy a seat in their 'esteemed' section.
Trust the eyes of the regular first class travellers to immediately spot the odd man out.
Well the lady was just not willing to get out of the first class, she insisted that it was the 'janta' train and she had every right to travel in it. But she just could not win against the collective stand of the other women who delayed the train from leaving the platform till this lady was removed from the compartment by the female cops on duty.

We choose when to get involved.

We choose whom to support and whom not to. Worse still - We choose whom to stand up against. And this rarely stems from our belief of who is right and who is wrong, but more from the socially accepted fact that ' Majority Wins' - which makes majority right, so let's be a part of that majority.
More than the fear of standing up against those men in the compartment, it was a fear of standing up alone, of not being backed by others that prevented the ladies from speaking up that day. But that same fear turns into a confidence of being supported by those many minds which agree that we cannot share our rights, our privileges with those in society who have just not 'earned' it.
While the audacity of men to enter a ladies compartment can be tolerated, the guts of a woman to enjoy a comfort she has no right to, cannot be condoned. We would rather delay our own travel; cause harm to our own selves than share our space with those who are less equal to us. I mean how could she even think of becoming a part of a class much above her.


Start with what’s right rather than what is acceptable – Peter Drucker.