Skip to main content

Social Menace

i had to travel a long distance in a yet another jam packed bus to go to a job interview. what i had to experience was horrendous... just imagine the lady standing right behind me was digging her nose and wiping her fingers on the rod she was holding to stand up? not just that she was stinking. gawd! and moreover she was talking to her friend in the loudest of voices, about some master she works for and his habits and his conjugal relationship with his wife.

somewhere a young boy was talking to his friend about what happened that day at the tuition's that his friend had missed; the topic was for all to hear, what is the best strategy to make the girl agree to date him.there was an elaborate discussion with peels of laughter and mirth for everyone to hear as the bus was stuck in a jam. then a strange looking mad man got up, and started broadcasting his own news channel with personal inputs. no this is not the end to my woes today. but there was more to come.

two women in their late 50's got up in the bus and one literally hung on to me while the other merely leaned against me to stand. my hands were already paining from all the strain of standing for a long time and then to manage such people. then there was this guy who wouldn't budge from a ladies seat to allow a lady to sit down! god! the conductor had to tell him to get up only then did he get up that too he kept on abusing and arguing. as the crowd cleared somewhat the man sitting opposite to me became visible, i almost immediately wished this didn't happen. the man was spitting on his shirt more than outside the window and mind you he was scratching his crotch merely in full public view..yewww!!!

i wonder why people don't develop some simple civic sense. personal hygiene should come to all and also we should be aware if we are being the cause of inconvenience to anyone.

Comments

Tushar Mangl said…
And more than often, the governments and the systems are blamed for the dirt and muck we see in the public facilities all around
Kartz said…
With such *public-displays-of-nonchalance*, ppl still wonder abt stuff like the Indian Railways' inadequacy to breach the 150 kph speed barrier while China is threatening to hit 400, more luxurious buses to transport them within cities, so on and so forth...

Neat write-up...

Peace. Have a nice day.
Anonymous said…
good work.....but its we, the people who have to open our eyes and stop thinkin n do some thng abt it....
i think every1 should read a learn some thing from your post!!

Also read

Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

Why does Mrs Dalloway still speak to you after a hundred years? A human reading of Virginia Woolf’s novel A reflective and thoughtful review of Mrs Dalloway that explores why Virginia Woolf’s modernist classic continues to resonate. From memory and mental health to love, regret, and time, this article examines characters, themes, context, and craft while questioning whether the novel still challenges and comforts today’s reader. Why does a novel about one ordinary day linger in your mind for years? This long form review of Mrs Dalloway explores through its quiet power. You will find analysis, critique, history, and personal reflection on why this book continues to unsettle and comfort readers alike. Can a single ordinary day hold an entire life? Have you ever reached the end of a day and wondered where it went, and more unsettlingly, where you went within it? That question sits at the heart of Mrs Dalloway , Virginia Woolf’s 1925 novel that dares to suggest that the smallest moment...

Spill the Tea: Noor and the Silence After Doing Everything right

Noor has done everything she was supposed to do — moved out, built a life, stayed independent. Yet beneath the neat routines and functional success lies a quiet emptiness she cannot name. Part of the Spill the Tea series, this story explores high-functioning loneliness, emotional flatness, and the unsettling fear of living a life that looks complete from the outside. The verandah was brighter than Noor expected. Morning light lay flat across the tiles, showing every faint scuff mark, every water stain from old monsoons. The air smelled of detergent from a neighbour’s washed curtains flapping overhead. On the table, the paneer patties waited in a cardboard bakery box I’d emptied onto a plate. A squeeze bottle of ketchup stood beside it, slightly sticky around the cap. Two cups of tea, steam already thinning. In one corner, a bamboo palm stood in a large terracotta planter. Thin stems. Too many leaves. Trying very hard to look like it belonged indoors. Noor sat down and pulled the chair ...

Why do we crave bookshops when life falls apart? A deep reading of Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop

This article reflects on Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-reum, a gentle novel about burnout, healing, and second chances. Through Yeong-ju and her quiet community, the book reminds you that meaning often returns slowly, through books, people, and ordinary days that begin to feel like home again. Why do so many of us secretly dream of walking away from everything? At some point, usually on a crowded weekday morning or during yet another meeting that could have been an email, you wonder if this is all there is. You did what you were told. You studied, worked hard, built a career, stayed responsible. And yet, instead of contentment, there is exhaustion. Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop begins exactly at this uncomfortable truth. Hwang Bo-reum’s novel does not shout its intentions. It does not promise transformation through grand revelations. Instead, it sits beside you quietly and asks a gentler question. What if the problem is not that you failed, but that you nev...