In the current hierarchical society based on the economic status, we are forced to fight those who are our neighbours in the structure. We crib and we hate those who are just below us or above us. We know that someday we will get outsmarted by those below us and hence we try unconsciously subjugate them. Similarly we want to outsmart those just above us and keep trying to attack them whenever given a chance.
I will try to share some experiences, trying to see why people totally strangers fight and resent each other just due to the social structure.
1) It is the last trip of the bus for the day, the time is around 9:30 pm and the bus is crowded with 50-60 people. The conductor is working tirelessly collecting ticket fare from passengers and give them tickets. All passengers look tired weary from their work and eager to reach their home early. Many of them dont give the conductor change and he has to frantically convince them that he doesnt have change and request them to search more in their pockets/wallets to find those hidden coins. The conductor is getting restless. Meantime there are few passengers from North India, who seem to be labourers who try to convey where exactly they want to go. Conductor completely restless keep shouting at them about giving him change in local language. The north indian passengers clueless of local language are not able to understand. Conductor just writes down something on the back of ticket and moves on. The north indian passengers are still wondering why they were not returned their remaining fare. In around 3 kms, the phase will change and before that the conductor is supposed to collect fares from all the passengers who have climbed in the previous phase. He asks the driver to stop for sometime as he has not finished collecting fare from everybody. After 2 mins, there is commotion from few passengers that they are simply being delayed. Conductor who is already restless shouts back at them saying that he is doing his work and if they want, they can take some other bus. The commotion grows with both the parties abusing each other. Few other passengers try to calm them down.
I standing on one side, start wondering.
“Naturally, none of them are interested in creating nuisance to others but still it is just that each one of them are so weary with their personal and work life that they vent out their anger easily on anybody. Conductor is doing his job, close to 12 hour shift, dealing with hundreds of different kind of passengers. Passengers tired from their work want to go back home as soon as possible. North Indian passengers are themselves thousands of kms away from their home and have their own anxiety in this place where they dont understand the language and are trying hard to make a living and send some money back home. Yet, none of them stop to wonder why they are fighting each other. Each one of them wants this one more day to pass, thanking God that they were able to earn something for their living and hopefully save a part of it for the future.”
2) I am sitting in a bus waiting at the traffic signal. From the window, I notice a Transgender lady demanding money from a girl sitting in an Auto. After few seconds, the girl in the auto takes our Rs. 10 and gives it to the transsexual lady while the Autowallah keeps waiting for the signal to become Green.
Again I wonder:
“Would that Autowallah have also asked extra Rs. 10 like the usual autowallahs in Bangalore. Did that girl sitting in the auto agreed to pay that extra amount? What would the Autowallah think about his way of earning that Rs. 10? Does the girl see this Rs. 10 which she gave to the Transgender lady differently than what she would give to this autowallah?
Without doubt, it is a sad part of our society that the only way we allow transgenders to live is either by begging or by being prostitutes. We have now people who argue frantically that now some of the men have started dressing as transgenders and hence we shouldnt give them alms. Ofcourse these people dont discuss why we have the society which forces men to become transgenders so that he can beg and earn his food/drink.
However coming back to the point, I wondered if the autowallah who would have probably asked for the extra Rs. 10 felt ashamed or pitied himself. He who is working hard and earning, requests for the same Rs. 10 and is denied and infact abused by people generally for disobeying the law which has fixed the fare rates, where as a transgender who begs for the money is given money.
