I’m a feminist and admired many women for what they did for the people, may it be the nation or their own family. However, there have been very few instances where I have seen a woman doing something better than a man. I’m not comparing or complaining, however, I do think that there are certain things which men to better than women and similarly, there are many things which women do better than men. I have seen men doing things to prove them better than women or women trying to beat men in their own den. I think many of the women and men have succeeded in their attempts, however till now, I haven’t seen a single living example.
But this is about those two exceptions. The two exceptions who proved, at least to me, that it isn’t about being a guy or a gal, it’s about having a big heart filled with helluva courage.
The story is about me traveling from one part of India to another and meeting two girls, (women, if you will) whom I added to my exceptions list. I boarded the train from half way of the train’s total journey with 24 more hours of journey left.
Girl One
She was a south Indian girl from Bangalore and travelling to Delhi to catch another train to meet her husband in Punjab which is more than 2500 km. She was physically disabled (crippled). I didn’t get into the technicalities of it like when and how did it happen and seriously, you wouldn’t have too as she was happy go lucky kind of girl that I wasn’t, even for a second, serious with her. We were all joking and enjoying the
wonderful journey. She was travelling alone in a condition in which I would haven’t have taken a single step without a helping hand. Then, to be brave enough to be travelling alone, knowing how dangerous it can be especially in Northern India were the crime rate against women in more than other parts. Girl Two
She was from Northern India and coming from Bangalore, again to Delhi and then to Jammu, Jammu & Kashmir. For her, the journey was for more close to 72 hours. I’m not a traveler and don’t enjoy traveling large distances. I’d rather stay home or take a flight. But this girl was different. This may not sound brave or courageous to some/many but I surely seemed to me. She travelled 72 hours more than 3000 kms that too without a confirmed seat which means she didn’t a reserved seat in the train and had to travel sitting/lying anywhere she saw an open space. I thought this was stupid at first as I would have never travelled without a reserved ticket. She told me that she had done this a lot of times earlier too. She, again, was traveling alone. I was amazed to see the confidence and courage to move freely in a man dominated world.
Well, I bow to these girls and they may not read this or know it, but I admire their guts. I wish to match their courage one day. Glad that i'm still connected to them via FB. We exchanged number before we got down at the last station.
