Now I'll tell what is the problem with this world

Ok! i'll tell you what is the problem with this world! It is contained in the people of this world and ....(gear up! for the revelation......)

..is the lack of EMPATHY in them.

One episode, of the hundreds i come across daily, will perfectly tell you why and how. It really freaked me out!

Time : 7.00 pm 'ish
Place: in a local BEST bus, Mumbai

Scene: The bus was crowded, actually over crowded as usual and people clambered in, groping here and there and gripping almost anything for support. I found a relatively convenient spot to stand and with my bag, a wet umbrella and a plastic bag, stretched and held the bar above for balance.

Once settled, i looked around and noticed that there were almost 12 seats reserved for ladies. Now, i knew there were this sort of reservation for woman but 12 seats!!! ....(pause) ...ok, taken, 12 seats and on the other side, i saw 4 seats reserved for senior citizens and 4 for handicapped (or was it 2?)

anyways, soon an old grandpa sort uncle came and stood beside me. That poor man was short and could hardly reach the bar above. He was trying hard to stand still. I looked at him and turned away in a typical life-is-like-that conclusion but then immediately i turned to the seats for the senior citizens.

while 2 seats were occupied by an old couple, the other two had an apparently educated, young girls sitting and they were friends. I know this coz they were constantly chattering. The short, old uncle was standing right in front of them. So, they cannot give an excuse that they did not see him.

I waited for a while to see if they rightfully give him his seat but they did not. Furious, i asked uncle where he would get down. He told me, " nahi nahi..yaha nahi...door hai"(No..no..not here...its far). I told him to ask one of the girls to get up coz the seat was reserved for him. I was loud and we were close enough to the girls and they had stopped their giggling and were looking at us with a blank face. I looked at them and so did the uncle. They both looked away.

I told him that there are so many seats for women, its ok if he asks them to get up. Again, he turned to the girls and now they were pretending to be oblivious. The uncle turned to me, smiled and said, "rehne do...ladki log hai, kaha khade honge bheed mein" (let it be. they are young girls. it will be difficult for them to stand in a crowded bus).

I looked at the girls once again and I know they were listening to our conversation but they did not respond. I was angry, like really angry. I wanted to scream at them for their disrespect not only to the old man but also to civic rules.

I kept staring at them and they returned a few back but this did not fetch any action. they continued sitting, i continued standing, getting infuriated and staring at them in the hope that at least one of them would get up and the old uncle, well, he continued with his struggle to keep balance.

Even writing this is making me want to slap those irresponsible, immature creatures. I am the last person to lend any adjectives, especially negative ones, to people. but i feel these girls crossed the limits within no time.

I do not expect anyone, including these girls, to offer seats to the elderly if it is unreserved (now, whether there should be any this sort of reservation at all or not, we'll talk later) seat, it is entirely up to an individual. But in this case, the old uncle rightfully deserved his seat.

However, he did not get one because the girls wrongly did not give it to him. What is the with people expecting good and fair behaviour from others but conveniently ruling out themselves from it? Havent they heard and be taught that treat others as you would like them to treat you. Really! How difficult is to understand that?


And mind you, I have seen these similar sort of young girls, who feel no qualms in asking an old man to get up from a seat reserved for woman! Imagine!!

This is just one of the several cases which happen everyday. Trains, buses, traffic laws and just a glance around the city and my simple conclusion everytime is - lack of civic sense, which stems from lack of empathy.
If you like a clean city, don't throw that chips packet anywhere but in a dustbin. But instead what each one does is, complain and expect others to not do it.

when will they start?
when all start!

and

when will all start?
when one starts!

and i don't throw chips packets, or anything for that matter, in the open. So, i can rightfully criticize.

I am sick and tired of an indifferent city. All the Mumbai spirit we talk about is rather easy to ooze out when a terrorist is at the doorstep or other calamities coming knocking. But what happens on a day-to-day basis? what spirit does the city hold then?
Dont give me the regular Not-everyone-is-like-that-shit again 'coz the majority is like this.

Hope someday it improves. If you wonder do i do my bit? Yes! i do and it is not very difficult. Just some common sense is all one needs.

Dont do it for the society but do it for yourself.The efforts will be self sustaining.
'Coz someday when everyone is doing it for themselves, they all will be collectively doing it for the society.

Contextualize this to villages, towns, cities and even nations at large and just imagine, how much better the world will be.

Phhhewww.....someday...

Sigh