I would like to share a small incident:
I was traveling in a really crowded city bus in Pune (India). Fortunately, I had a seat. All the city buses in Pune have 50% seats reserved for women. The left side of the bus (which is reserved for women) was completely occupied (by women of course). The bus approached the SNDT Women's College stop (Karve Road) and few girls got in. I noticed that one of girls was carrying a huge bag and she couldn't even stand properly. Since, I was traveling light I offered her my seat.
She stared weirdly at me for a moment and shouted, "Kay re? Line marto ka majhyavar?" [Translation: Kyun re? Line maar raha hai kya? (Are you hitting on me?)]
I was a bit embarrassed and replied politely, "No. I saw your huge bag and that's why I offered you the seat."
By then the other passengers had started staring at me and giving dirty looks.
She shouted back, "Don't try to act smart. I know what you meant."
A few other female passengers (who were sitting) shouted something like, "Aren't you ashamed of yourself?"
Then the girl slapped me! I WAS SLAPPED FOR OFFERING THE GIRL A SEAT!
I just can't express how embarrassing that was. I wanted to argue back, but I knew that, with the female passengers ganging up on me (along with a few male passengers as well) and no one supporting me (the guy next to me didn't utter a word), I stood no chance. I sat there silently for the next 10 min, with a burning red cheek and quietly alighted the bus when my destination arrived. That day I decided, I am never going to offer a seat to a women unless she is really old and literally can't stand or handicapped.
This might be a very rare incident, but I have seen women 'exploit' the reservations they get. You can't do anything you want just because you are a woman. Similarly, just because someone is a male, doesn't mean that he is at fault every time.
Our view of looking at men/women must change
Submitted by Prathamesh Dalvi
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