JOIN USExcuse me, could you please shift?’; ‘Excuse me, could you please vacate the seat?’, must be the most popular one liners going around in the Ladies Only coach of Delhi Metro.
It is not exactly like, getting that seat will make you eligible for the next byelections but the clamour seems to be similar.
Buying a Rs 20 token does not automatically ensure a reserved seat in the coach but girls (actually middle-aged women) will surely have you believe that – as if you didn’t know any better. Metrolife spoke to some youngsters and middle-aged women to find out more about this tiff over seats.
Juhi Upadhaya, a CA who commutes to Nehru Place daily says it’s better to vacate the seat rather than get into a fight. “These ‘aunties’ think that we can stand for a long time as we are young. But what is the logic is what I do not understand. If somebody is really old or needy, then I don’t mind giving up my seat but if you are merely 40, surely you can easily manage.”
Some ‘aunties’ have a habit of staring at the younger girls, until you feel guilty enough to get up. In fact, you are made to feel nothing short of a criminal. Hina Gera, a social worker who takes the Metro to Connaught Place daily says, “These are frustrated women who finds solace in irritating the youngsters. They think it is our duty to give up seats for them. Why, don’t we get tired? A woman once told me that my parents had failed to teach me values and that I did not know how to respect elders! Are statements like these even necessary? Sometimes, I feel the general coach is far more peaceful than ours!”
It gets worse. If you choose to keep your ‘seat’ chances are you could be accused of being a ‘lesbian’ and be cursed with ‘may you have a cardiac arrest’ for good measure! But what is it that causes tempers to run lose in the Metro? Is it irritating crowds, a fight at home - the effects of which are continuing, envy at not having a place to rest your backside or plain a demand camoflaged as a request?
And, no sir, it isn’t just the ‘seniors’ who lack bare ‘courtesies’ - the youngsters too misbehave. Debjani Mitra, director of a coaching institute shares her side of the story. “Once I boarded the train from New Ashok Nagar for Dwarka. I saw a girl sitting in a very relaxed manner with her headphones on. Since there was some space next to her, I requested her to shift a little. I frankly, don’t know what happened to her, but she started shouting, ‘Aunty, the seats are already alloted and can’t you see the dividers?’ I was shocked at her reaction and couldn’t utter a word. But what can one say to these youngsters? They are shameless!” Oh well, it seems a case of pot calling the kettle black - either way. Meanwhile, ‘kissa kursi ka’ carries on.