Inequality in the name of Gender Equality

We are a country that has long been infamous for it's suppression of womens rights. We can recall sordid tales of female infanticide, of rejection of the girl child as a lesser mortal, of women denied the privilege of marriage, of women succumbing to the flames of her deceased husband's funeral pyre, of a tribal clan having depraved conjugal rights over the same woman, of the cursed dowry system, of child marriage etc. It is absolutely loathsome to hear that this and more was what made our country in the days past.

But, we have come a long way as a nation accepting women in equal standing with men. Courtesy globalization, constitutional reforms, literacy and women's rights activism among others. Women these days as a result are more confident, have equal opportunities, have freedom of speech and action and have gained broader acceptance in society.

In saying so, I am also a vehement advocate of womens rights and equality, but in fitting measure a rebel too when they are taken undue advantage of. So, I thought of narrating in simple language a personal experience as I take out on some sick lingering habits in my state (Tamil Nadu - India) that works to the malicious advantage of women in the name of "gender equality" when we as a nation are in verity striving to embrace it in every word and deed.

The Setting : I board a bus from Engineering college after a hectic day, search for a seat to occupy in the allowed men's section, find none there, in passing quickly observe two couples seated in that section traveling together, and finally manage to catch sight of an empty row of seats in the women's section rather and plod towards it. Fyi .. women had greater allocation of seats by proportion in buses then. D... equality !! But, being worn out and badly in need of rest, I don't care for a hair but brashly take the empty seat. Then scampers in a average looking woman at the next bus stop and begins prowling for a place to repose her rear just as I did a while ago. Her scan gets her to me and to the empty seats next to mine, but being the immaculate-conservative-chaste Tamil woman that she is, she won't sit with a unfit stranger as I. That's perhaps fair enough if she decides so for herself. But then, she begins playing the usual trick of casting her cold stares at me hoping that it would unsettle me into yielding, little wary that I was a stubborn teenaged maverick college ox myself. The fight for gender equality was by then on. It's when she does it over and over again to no avail that she musters the guts to open her darn mouth to stage a scene. Nevertheless, I turn a careless ear, don't yield yet again but gently offer her to sit next to me if she at best wishes to. Contrarily, she is perturbed by the offer, whines and calls for the conductor to mediate. The dutiful conductor presides over the case, hears us out and lawfully asks me to vacate in the sight of all co-passengers. Being dismayed but not convinced, I say "yes" to him, but only as long as he is able to find me an alternative place by asking the fairer sex from the couples in men's section to vacate for me in exchange. Most male co-passengers who were probably once bitten and awaited an occasion for sweet revenge are pleased with my quid-pro-quo argument on equality and the conductor is charged with the arduous task of bartering with the couple on my behalf. He lobbies as asked to, does a shabby job of it, quarrels, almost comes close to receiving blows from an adamant male partner and decides to beat a retreat only to vanish from sight leaving us to ourselves. So, there stood the matter unresolved for the next 30 minutes by when it was time for me to alight. So, being the chivalrous gentleman that I longed to be, with a wily smile, I generously offered the woman, still standing, a place as I moved out. But alight I did amidst unexpressed cheers of the men folk with a sense of pride, boost to my esteem and glint in my eyes for not having allowed gender equality to grossly fail the test though it happened to be over trivia on a rather mean proving ground.