Chivalry vs Chicanery in the Delhi Metro

The Delhi metro which has been in existence for over 15 years now seems to be creating a new cultural divide- the grumpy males as against the chivalrous females!

With social media available 24x7 to people from every strata of society public postures have to be tampered more carefully than ever before.

There was a time it appeared that the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation had transformed the etiquettes of thousands of commuters whose numbers are on the increase every day.It seemed the comforts of an AC commuting mode offering safe, fast and cheapest travel facilities from across borders of 3 States Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh had truly turned the concept of National Capital Region into a reality.

The Delhi Metro seemed to have done the impossible by bringing together the ethnic chatty college going girls from posh Hauz Khas and Greater Kailash to travel peacefully with the rustic pugree donning bearded men from the hinterland of Ghaziabad, Gurugram and Faridabad.

Apart from some sly glances, the females, many of them giggling and chatting spontaneously with their friends and class- mates were initially spared the uncouth lewd comments, so typical of Delhi.

But all that seems to be changing fast and people are returning to their roots, so to say.The mask of good behaviour is off and the men are showing that they are not going to keep up with the pretence any longer.

It is certainly not the jostling and the rush that is responsible for this because peak hour rush has always been there since the Metro started. But the male behaviour is changing even during the lean hours when there is no maramari for seats.

Almost every week commuters are posting pictures of men not vacating seats reserved for women, in some cases these women are holding children in their laps and some are pregnant.The message with the pictures is to share the picture to shame them but that is only making them more hostile.

Maybe this is their way of protesting against reservations in general. Maybe the reason for this rudeness is the uncertain job situation in the country or it could be some grudge they hold against women in positions of authority both at home and office.

But it is a common sight to find Metro compartments increasingly resembling the extinct unreserved third class compartments of the Indian railways.The seats meant for six are packed like sardines with at least 8 or 9 commuters.

On the other hand chivalry which is a prerogative of the male species has been taken over by women commuters. From my own experience and several others shared on the social media, it is more than evident that it is always the women who are offering their seats to senior citizens and the sick if there are any. And this chivalry transcends all ages and class.

Most of the times, in fact 99 per cent of the times I don’t accept their offer telling them ' Abhi meri umar hi kya hai' or that a sitting posture causes spondilytis and gout. But honestly I have never felt that I am so weak that I would ask a woman who is sitting to offer her seat to me. And I tell them that when everything else fails.

It is a dramatic reversal of roles. The moment the male species enter the Metro station their sole ambition in life is to grab a seat by pushing, jostling or breaking the queue, whatever.And once they are ensconced in their perch they take out the ear phones from their bags and either start playing games, or more frequently watching a movie on their mobile sets. They now have a genuine reason for not looking at their fellow passengers, so engrossed are they with their entertainment. Even if they see a pregnant women in the coach they would fight and argue rather than offer their seats.

Chivalry is now clearly a woman trait in Delhi. Three Cheers!