Women Power, No Really! (Daily Commute #2)

Hello Readers! Welcome to the second post of Daily Commute! I thought I'd tell you a story about a Friday to kick start your Monday! So, this one's about the Women compartment of the Indian Railways and what comes along with that --- > Women Power!

Go ahead & read the fun!

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There I was, standing on the crowded Ghatkopar station, waiting for a train at 9:30 PM. It had been the longest & not to mention toughest day. But, finally it was a Friday so I was looking forward to the weekend to get some rest! But, there was still a lot of time for that as I still had to reach home. I was standing on the platform. I never know where exactly to stand. On the left or right of the door & so I end up standing in between the doors & land up boarding the train after everyone else, or sometimes get left behind. A lot of things were going through my mind... Work things.. Personal stuff.. Which book to read or TV show to binge.. Weekend plans: social meetups or hibernation? To be or not to be, as I call it!

I glanced at all the ladies around me. One girl was busy taking pictures of the moon. She sure had some great app on her phone that I ALMOST asked her which app was it. Another lady was busy keeping her kid from petting the street dog & also not losing him anywhere. Most 30-40 aged women were either on Whatsapp or Facebook browsing through stories or recipes while the younger population were on Instagram or Snapchat. But, almost everyone was hooked on their mobile phones, like it was mandatory! I felt estranged & took out my phone, just because!!! Can you imagine!

Soon, I realised, I had been waiting for the train for over 10 minutes! It had become too crowded by then & given my little experience of public transport, I became irritated & began to lose my patience. It felt like I'll have to leave that train & that meant postponing weekend for more minutes!

After some time, the train was there! I don't know how, but this time, I was standing exactly at the proper spot & even if I wouldn't have wanted to get in, all the women pushed me in any way! So, somehow, I got in on a Kalyan train (which is the MOST crowded train, in my opinion.) Inside, it was so chaotic, I got inside & just chose to stand, giving up my hopes & dreams to ever get a seat. And the thing is about 90% people go on asking people with seats where they are getting down & I HATEto do that. I'd rather stand than do that. Call it stupid, but whatever, times are not that worse! I wondered how do these elder women travel 1 or 2 hours by train standing up, when I can't do it for 20 minutes! Some of them are such professionals! They immediately understand novices like me & I almost laugh about it like, "Okay woman, you got me there, now don't make me ask you for your seat! Give it to me instead of some other professional commuter!" 

Now, I am all in for feminism & all the way #WomenPower , but this women power, in trains is at a different level!

If you stand at the door when you don't want to get down at the next stop,

you'll know what's Women Power!!

If you sit when someone leaves & they've offered it to someone else prior,

you'll know what's Women Power!!

If you don't shift & give someone space for that fourth seat, boy,

you'll know what's Women Power!!

All Indians out there, is it similar with you? Or have you gotten used to the hustle & bustle of Mumbai life?

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