31/07/2018
Dipika D. Naik is feeling enlightened at Mumbai Local Train - 2nd class Ladies Dabba.
July 21 at 11:15 PM · Mumbai
Today, I got in Churchgate local from Virar. This old lady (very thin, wearing messy clothes, carrying unorganised bag full of clothes) got in local when all the seats were occupied. Being very thin, she did not need much space. So she requested all the ladies (who were sitting spreading their legs as much as they can in order to pretend that there is no space even for an ant!) to shift a bit so that she can manage to sit. The lady was so thin that she needed as much space as a 2-3 yrs old kid would need! But still, ladies were denying to shift as if they have been fixed there with fevicol 😊
I had to make them 'realise' that if they would be kind enough to sit without spreading legs, this old female would get a seat! After having a few mins of 'unhealthy discussion', they agreed to shift. But gave very disgusting look to the lady. And asked me to let her sit beside me because they did not want to sit next to an untidy person!
I was lucky enough that she chose to sit next to me. I was feeling so sad that she had been judged and ridiculed because of her attire, personality and messy bag. I told her not to feel bad about the hurtful comments she got from those ladies!
The lady just smiled and said "I never feel bad about it. Because their comments are limited only upto this journey of 1 hour. Their perception cant make any difference to my 65 yrs of journey and to the rest of it! It is not their fault that they dont know that this messy, weak old lady was a state level hockey player when she was young. They dont know that this lady they are denying today to sit next to has worked in French embassy of India as a certified bilangular. They dont know that the lady they are finding ugly today, was a part time model in her young days! They dont know that the lady they are finding weak, is so strong that even after losing her husband and their only daughter, she moved on in life with joy! They dont know that the lady they are asking "pehli baar aayi hai kya train me?" is travelling in Mumbai locals since 1940. They dont know that the lady they are advising to sit at home in this age, travels DAILY from Virar to Bandra in "peak" hours to teach unprevileged children, so that they won't become like one of these people when they will grow up!"
😊 such a tight slap to all those who judge a book by its cover 😊
I could not resist to take a selfie (though its not perfect) with Ivy and post it here along with her thoughts so that we all could learn from her.
Before we parted our ways, she recognised the question in my eyes, and said, "Ivy is one type of a plant. You did not learn it in your school days?"
😇😇😇😇
God make us meet some people for a reason!