Before I dive into my narrative, I want you all to know that the following incident did indeed happen and is not fictitious.
It was a typical Friday Chennai afternoon with the sun beating down. I had a Swift India conference to attend in Bengaluru on Saturday and Sunday. So I decided to go early. I’d planned to reach Bengaluru by Friday night, so that I could get rest before the conference. Hence, I’d booked a ticket in Evacay bus from Koyambedu. I got onto the bus by 4:30 in the evening and started reading a book named, “Love in the name of Cholera” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. There was nothing special about the journey apart from the lovely book until we had to stop for dinner around 9:30 in the night, some 90 odd kilometres away from Bengaluru. To my disappointment the hotel name read “Hotel xxxxxxx, a pure veg restaurant”, as I’d have loved to satiate the non-vegetarian in me.
The hotel was big enough to accommodate close to 150 people. But, by the time we’d reached, there were approximately only 10 people enjoying the vegetarian food. Then, entered a girl. She seemed familiar to me as she’d been sitting on one of the first row seats in the bus that I’d ridden in. She seemed to have taken to dining on the table, located in the middle of a very big dining hall. As I had to eat something which had a lot of protein content, I ordered Paneer Tikka and Paneer Dosa. I was starving, but at the same time, had enough patience to wait some time for the food to be served.
Then I saw a group of 5 men entering the hall and without the consent of the girl, they decide to sit opposite to her to supposedly dine on the same table. Something seemed off about them ever since they entered the hall.
“I’d like to have butter naan with that chicken“, said a man, pointing at the girl while ordering the food, in spite knowing that the hotel served vegetarian food only.
I thought for a second that the hotel had Chicken and was elated. Only to my surprise, the girl plugged in her headphones, got up and switched tables. And she seemed upset about something.
In the meantime, I got my food and after having eaten one piece of Paneer Tikka, I heard another man from the group murmur something. The murmur was strong enough for me to understand what he said.
“Why do you have to wear the shirt when you wear it this way?“, laughed another man saying that to the girl. The girl ignored everything and preferred eating. For the record, the girl was wearing a Black shirt and a pair of blue jeans. And irrespective of what she was wearing, it was none of the Death Eaters’ business to question them. Get it men? What a girl wears, how she wears it, where she wears it, is none of anyone’s business to question her. “Why don’t you share what you have on and off the plate with us ?” questioned another man, and had a grin on his face as if he had achieved something very big. The girl stopped eating and was terrified with the proceedings. Me, someone who’d give up everything but not food, stopped eating and was furious at the group of Death Eaters (They didn’t deserve to be called Men). So, I got up, carried my plates all the way to the Girl. “Do you mind if I sit here”, I asked her in the softest of tones. “No, please sit down”, replied the girl instantly with her headphones still plugged in, which showed that she had been listening to everything that the Death Eaters were grumbling.
“If you think what you are doing is really appropriate, we can quarrel. Else, can you please stop doing what you are doing?” I questioned the Death Eaters with a smile. They didn’t reply anything and stared at me as if they were going to ask “who on earth are you?” The girl was shocked and looked at me and there was silence for good 10 seconds.” Yaen pa, ipdi elam panringa?” questioned a lady from few yards away. People started looking towards us, obviously to see what was happening, which is what I expected them to do after all. But to my astonishment, they started asking the Death Eaters to leave and were insisting them to apologise to the girl.
The Death Eaters got up and left the place immediately. I had felt as if someone had an Expecto Patronum cast! Further astonishment followed when everyone started applauding me for the efforts I had put in. I had no clue about how to react to all that. So, I decided to focus on my Paneer Tikka. “Being a man is a matter of gender, but being a gentleman is a matter of choice. Thank you so much for everything”, exclaimed the girl looking at me.
“I’m glad. But I’d have been happier had you questioned them.”, I replied.
“I’ll make sure I do from now”, said the girl and started eating.
I was so happy with everything that was happening. I almost lost track of everything. I had never felt something so good. Then we finished eating and we left the place. We reached Bengaluru in another 80 minutes and the girl thanked me again for everything before getting down. I checked in my hotel and had one of the finest slumbers I have ever had. So, why is it that situations like these occur? Why is that people still having the courage to do something like that? It is all because of the fact that we don’t ask questions to them. Ask! Ask until they understand. Ask until they decide to stop. But don’t be without asking even if you have to do something, which you have never done.
P.S. Don’t ask me questions about what happened after that and why didn’t the bus operator do anything. Let them have some peace. The Death Eaters weren’t travelling with us. Neither the bus operators, nor the hotel management was at fault.
“Bran thought about it.’Can a man still be brave if he’s afraid?’ ‘That is the only time a man can be brave,’ his father told him.”
– George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones
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