Each day as I go to work,or to my classes travelling in buses, my panoptic vision is forced to ponder on the passengers in a public bus..the perverted pollutants (read men,no matter what shape, size,age what matters most is the gender..masculine,here) who periodically purge themselves of their pandemian paraphilia.
It is no pleasant sight, even less of a feeling,but believe it or not it is not periodic but pandemic. One cannot avoid it,hard as you might try.And the worst part of it is,they succeed in making you feel outraged,to say the least and defiled to say the truth ...
Two days back, I was travelling in my usual bus,trying to get to the university, but something is not usual,know what???The fact that I'm a woman,travelling alone and thus liable to any and every kind of molestation inflicted upon me.
The soaring temperature,add to that the tortoise speed of the bus and the anxiety of being late for the umpteenth time in the week,had made me really irritated and ready to snap off at the slightest provocation. But,truly,being a woman even when one is provoked,the best thing to do is ..SHUT UP and TOLERATE though it is definitely not my way to deal with pests,at least not with the school-going guy who tried messing with me that day...
He was travelling with his mother..I know that sounds funny but then in Kolkata,it is more usual than funny.."mayer aadure chele"; "alaler ghorer dulal"..not hard to come by. I would have had no problems with either his mom, or her persistent attempts to dismantle my balancing act in the bus if her dear little son had not decided to let all his pent-up urges hurling at me...
For some time, it left me stupified (yup, I find hard playing that role )...I took some moments to get that registered..(poor philanthropic me..am so used to the good kind of people) and then God (only if S/HE exists) would have had problems in saving that perverted pollutant of a pest.
Snapping back at him, I asked him to move from where he was standing...very timidly he cited the lack of space and the bus being crowded..before I could answer, his mom burst right in:
"See such things are normal,they happen if you are travelling in a crowded bus,learn to accept them or else don't travel in a bus,get yourself a car..."
This was not the first time I was hearing it, but something in her tone and her son's seemingly innocent face did it for them, I answered..
"Well,it might be normal,but then don't you think that it is not normal to go unzipped in a crowded bus???Or may be that too is normal???You only get zipped in a car???"
The mother's face drained off all colour( am sure she doesn't use a waterproof foundation,it was pouring from her oil-sleek face) but yet her defence ran thus...
"Ki je jata bokcho,ekta baccha chele,tar namey erom ekta kotha boltey lojja korlo na?"
My retort( I was getting bitchy):
"Baccha chele jodi aar baccha na thakte chaye,shei lojja ta aamar naki aapnar?"
Some more verbal altercations followed,at the end of which the "baccha chele" got to his school and the mother while getting down from the bus naively enquired...
"pant er botam ta ki chire geche?dara selai kore debo..etai pore chole eshechis,tui ki aar boro hobi na,dekhisni na beronor aage,aa ha re.."
I had heard that because she made me hear it but again I couldn't trust my faithful-as-a-dog ears...and to top it all,what do you think my esteemed co-passengers were doing???
well there are prizes for guessing....
For the disbelieving women...
A free ride in 219 from Nagerbazar to College Street
For the snidely smiling men...
A needle and a thread to stitch up their zippers....
ok..so let's see if you guessed right....
My co-passengers had been
1.looking disapprovingly at me
2.looking out of the windows
3.looking at other women(the males)
4.looking at the displayed saris( the females)
5.looking perfectly 'normal'
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