The
Reserved Territory
At the struck of the last bell at school we use to
sprint like Usain bolt just to reserve a seat in the school bus. It was one of
the fierce competitions held every day at school. Windows of the bus were like
the gates of a kingdom inviting us to capture the territory. The weapons used to
conquer were our academic materials mostly notebooks which had our name printed
and sometimes muscles too worked.
The most preferred were the last lane window seats
which were mostly occupied by seniors of the school. The quality of the seats
in terms of preference decreased as one moved to the front seats. The most
disliked ones were the first few seats which were already reserved for teachers.
And having a seat near the teacher was no fun and I believe not even today. The
middle and last lane seats were the targets of many. These seats offered joyful
ride as the students participated actively in various games like antakshri, quiz and many others.
To reserve a seat, we had to outrun others. Many a time’s
more than one student reserved the same seat. This led to clashes and sometimes
severe consequences. Moreover, it was a form of rivalry.
Now, I am no more in school and I travel mostly by
public transport. Not more has changed when I compare the old day’s rivalry
with travelling by public transport. The rivalry is still in action especially
during office hours. What has changed is then I had to compete with school
mates but now it’s an open competition.
These days there are reserved seats for women and
physically challenged people. What I learned at my school was “Reservation is
for people who are in minority or underprivileged”. While taking up the gender
statistics of Nepal, females are in majority! And I wondered why reservation
for a class who is in majority. Now, I understand that these reservations are
not based entirely on statistics and I salute the lawmakers for this
achievement. But of what good is a law if not followed honestly?
Many a times the seats reserved for women are taken
my men and women are found being crushed like protons and neutrons in an atom.
I have also seen people trying to misbehave physically taking advantage of the
overly packed transportation. Fault is
from both sides. Men don’t have the
courtesy to give the seat and women don’t dare to ask for their right.
We all want to be in the comfort zone either by hook
or by crook. We enjoy underestimating and poking others. We develop this
attitude since our childhood and it keeps growing. If we were taught lessons on
peace, harmony and mutual understanding beside math and sciences at school and
at home, we would have developed sympathy and brotherhood towards each other.
The ultimate lesson for all of us is to develop conscience and spread harmony.
Developing the feeling of mutual understanding will help all of us.
My only request,
Dear men,
Next time if you see women, senior citizen or a
differently abled standing in the public vehicle please show some respect.
Thank you.
