From one Human Being to another....

I was walking down the crowded main road of an upscale neighbourhood  completely engrossed in my mental calculation of time and number of errands I had to run before lunchtime when I noticed the girl walking in front of me picking up pace and moving to right maybe to get ahead in a sea of people who had come out of the Metro station. I thought for a split second that she would get hit by the car coming from behind. It was around 11.30 a.m. and although the Office traffic had thinned yet the traffic on the road was busy enough for that time of the day. I kept my eyes on her still trying to understand why she was erratically moving to her right, the reason became clear to me in about a minute. I crossed a couple of men in their early 20s when one of them made a vulgar remark at me.

I thought I had misheard, I mean who would dare to pass a dirty remark with so many people around so I ignored it and kept walking. A couple of seconds later,I heard an even more vulgar version of the comment and I instinctively turned around. One of the men who looked high on something was giving me a dirty smile. The man next to him was laughing. “What are you saying. Don’t talk nonsense!” I said loudly. The first man kept smiling and repeated his comment. I couldn’t believe it. Here I was, in the middle of a busy road, in broad daylight surrounded by people and yet this man had the audacity of making such comments. His friend was laughing and nobody seemed to notice.

     The girl walking in front of me was obviously trying to get away from these men and chose not to react. Maybe more girls walking around have had an earful of such remarks too. I somehow couldn’t contain my anger and I shouted “Don’t talk rubbish or else it won’t be good for you!” He kept smiling and menacingly moved ahead with a stretched arm so as to grab me and said “It won ‘t be good for YOU” .I screamed louder “Touch me and I’ll break your arms!” The man who was laughing earlier turned around and walked away slowly. But this apparently drunk/high man kept muttering under his breath and kept moving in my direction. People had started to halt and look at the ‘tamasha’ but no one actually stopped or asked me what was happening. I think I got more frustrated with this casual attitude and kept screaming my threat of breaking his arms!

In my subconscious was a sickening thought…I know so many people who care about me and see me as a person. And look at this man …he obviously doesn’t see me as a person. The people moving past me don’t see me as a person. It might an eve- teasing incident for them but for me it was scary despite the fact that I was physically and mentally gearing up to hit him , something that made me feel vulnerable and lonely in this busy place and something that made me feel so helpless despite my anger .

I started looking around for some help-maybe a policeman , anybody who would look willing to help me. No,no body  was coming forward. I took a deep breath and calculated my next move. This man was still moving in my direction and just then I heard someone call out “What happened Madam?”

I turned around to see an Autowallah calling out to me. He was driving a shared auto and had many passengers inside. He was a young man and he stopped his Auto beside me. I said “This man is passing dirty remarks to all girls passing by and when I asked him not to do so he started threatening me.” The Autowallah looked at him and asked him in crude Hindi what his problem was. For the first time, that man stopped smiling and looked a bit scared. He mumbled something like “nothing”. “My brother is a Policeman, you wait I’ll call him and then you’ll know what happens when you do such dirty things. You just wait!” He spoke loudly to the man and took out his mobile. One of his passengers said “We are getting late, why are you getting involved?” He turned sharply and replied “If it was your sister ,would you still not stop and help? If you are getting late,take another Auto! I am going to help.” The passenger didn’t say anything.

 I don’t know whether he really dialled a number or just pretended to but that action seemed to do the trick. Sensing the support I received ,the man started running in the opposite direction. Nobody tried to catch hold of him and he disappeared in no time.I felt better and turned around to thank the Auto guy. He was not there ,he must have driven off after he realized the matter was resolved. The crowd around me kept moving without flinching. I also turned around  ,less frustrated than before but frustrated all the same.

After careful thought, I know I am not angry, I was frustrated in those moments at the people who kept moving past me without so much as paying attention to what was happening. I know it might have seemed like a minor incident in a big city where horrible unthinkable crimes are committed and heard of every single day. Since it happened to me I know how it made me feel but from their perspective maybe I should have ignored and kept walking without reacting. But as I said it happened to me and I chose to deal with it my way.

I am, in fact ,very grateful to that Autowallah who paid attention and took a few moments of his time to ask me and support me. I am thankful to him for this instinct of intolerance towards a seemingly minor incident. Dear Stranger, You would be the reason that I would stand up again for myself and anybody who needs help against what I feel is not acceptable! You are the reason that I would know somebody would have my back!

Thank you young man, for you are the reason I won’t be scared to walk on the same road tomorrow!

 

(This happened to me today morning and I have excluded the name of the city, the area and the road so as to avoid   ‘yahan to aisa hi hota hai’ and pay more attention to one person supporting another because both thought it was the right thing to do!)