I was sure that passengers will have to struggle to get a seat in the next bus too. A group of hooligans is always present while boarding the bus for creating trouble for commuters. If things continue to remain like this then how will the problems of common man be resolved? An old person who was standing beside me was suffering in silence while travelling in the bus. He meekly smiled at me and said, “I am a regular commuter of this bus. I usually travel as a standing passenger which is very common aspect. I am only able to occupy a seat on rare occasions. We need to adjust with the system! You can’t change the world, you need to change yourself!” I was surprised to notice that inspite of undergoing hardships daily this elderly person couldn’t learn the lesson to become unruly for grabbing a seat. He calmly replied, “I am a man of principles. I am sure, one day people will learn to follow the rules and become disciplined”. I smiled and said “hmmm”! However, I remained unconvinced by his statement and began thinking whether people will look towards such men and learn from them.
I thought I should raise this issue to change at least one person. So I tried to convince a youngster sitting beside us and said him that what he did was wrong. The youth should have followed the rules which would have made the lives of fellow commuters easier. He surprised me by saying that if everyone follows the rule then he too will follow. Refusing to vacate the seat for the elderly he told me, “Take it easy. Anyway we have boarded the bus and let’s avoid arguments.”
Unfortunately my mind would not stop thinking about the steps to be taken to reform the system? What would happen if I sit on the road observing a dharna in front of the bus and call it off until justice was attained? Then people would call me mad. Commuters might address me as an “educated idiot”! Many bystanders might comment that I didn’t have any other work to do! Even the media will label me as an ‘anarchist’! The incident would go down in history as someone had tried to challenge the deteriorated system in vain.
There are many people who criticise about the collapse of the system but they do not join hands to correct it. The reason why this is happening is that the society is fractured and the pieces do not forge into a unity to oppose the unruly elements. Each one has his own point of view for evaluating the injustice. For instance, take the example of transport system where categories of buses ranging from most luxurious to most ordinary exist. You are entitled to receive amenities as per your purchasing power. People select buses according to their purchasing power. Then who will fight for the common man’s rights? Only the anarchist!?
Akshara Damle
