INDI-gnity

Well, yes, I was a mute spectator hearing to the ignorant and appalling conversation of two middle-aged (un)gentlemen. I am not sure if I could have changed the situation for good.

I take the public transport to commute to office and home. On my way back to home after work, the buses are crowded. Typical evening on a weekday as in a crowded Indian city when people run hither-thither and always n a hurry. My commute most days are uneventful because of the fact that my ipod is on with volume just enough to sail me away from the chaos and noise in the bus.

But that day, I plugged out my earphone to hear what the commotion was all about. A young girl probably in early 20s was shouting at a man. He seemed to be in his mid-50s. As you know, there is a problem always in a crowded bus when guys hijack the place meant for women. The women folks have to bear the brunt of having boarded a crowded bus, what would they do? They need to get home to tend to their family after a hard day at office!
The situation was something like this - the girl felt the man was moving closer towards the girl, intentionally or unintentionally was not the issue. The issue was the girl was feeling awkward and thus politely asked him to stand a bit farther.
The man just started shouting, making a scene of it. It was obvious that what the girl told made sense. The guy was disregardful towards her, which she could not take anymore and started giving it back. Now, would a typical Indian alpha male having a pseudo-quasi egotism keep put? No! Never ever! His attitude was even more callous to the fact that he started pointing out how the young girls of this generation lack respect and culture sense. The girl yelled back asking the man to treat her with respect.

Oh yeah, forgot to mention that he was not alone. There was one more man who was also in his mid-50s who was fueling his conspiracy. The outrageous thing was that the folks around witnessing the conversation were asking the girl to suppress and to act respectfully towards those men but no one asked these two men to stop bad-mouthing and behave with respect towards her.

Did these guys keep quiet once she alighted from the bus? NO. That's when their sheer ignorance came to picture. Sample this.

Person 1 : You know, these girls have all spoilt. They don't respect their parents at home too. Why would they? As soon as they are out of college, they get into call centres and earn good money.

Person 2: Yes. They feel they are independent and act according to their whims and fancies. Look at the dresses these girls wear. Their attitude is shocking.

Person 1: We did not have an easy life like them!

And this continued so on.....

Today's generation may want to ask what easy life are they talking about? Are they not aware of the pressure these guys face? Don't they know the struggle these people go through to earn whatever money the so-called Call Centres pay them? The stress to perform, working during nights and eating at odd-hours, disturbing the biological clock and hence the health! What do they mean by independence and attitude! Are they not proud that this generation handles struggle with poise, go through the grind and yet appear cool and chilled out!

This attitude is the one that makes these men jealous! They cant handle the fact that the girls and women are being independent. They cant take in the fact that today's generation can stand up, take on the world by storm.

Didn't they understand what they lacked when the girl handled the undignified behaviour all by herself with no one to support her?