This is the story of a young woman – Maya, who believed in
living a life of dignity and grace. She did all things right and never indulged
in arguments, confrontations, conflicts or disagreements. She hated displeasing
any one or hurting anyone. She lived her life by the Gandhian philosophy of
live and let live and if someone slapped you on one cheek, you showed the other.
All this changed one night. She was on her way back home
from work. Tired from an entire day of meetings and deadlines, all she wanted
to do was get a seat on the crowded train back home. The train arrived and as
practice, she jumped into the train before it came to halt and also managed to
get a seat.
Sighing, she slumped
into her seat and then as the station rolled by, she shut her eyes and relaxed.
Soon, she was fast asleep and oblivious to the world passing by. A little while
later, she heard a commotion and woke up with a start.
Sitting up straight, she looked around to figure out what
was happening. She saw a group of young teen boys surrounding a girl in the
adjacent compartment. The girl looked uncomfortable and on the verge of tears.
The boys seemed to be having fun teasing her. Maya watched the interaction between
the boys and the girl.
Slowly she realised that the boys seemed to be harassing the
girl. The girl seemed to be in distress and the compartment she was in was
almost deserted, but for a few men sitting at the far side of the compartment
Maya looked around. All the other women too were sitting up
and watching the commotion. Likewise in the compartment that the girl was in,
the few men seated on the far side too were taking note of the alteration, but
no one seemed to be wanting to take any action.
The boys seemed to have gained courage from this lack of
action or interference by anyone and now were gently nudging and pushing the
girl. The terrified girl, with tears in her eyes looked around for help. As she
tried to make eye contact with the women, she finally locked eyes with Maya.
She seemed to beseech Maya for help.
Maya looked around once more and realized that no one wanted
to do anything. Maya felt torn between wanting to help the girl and minding her
own business. She looked at the girl once again and this time the girl’s eye
pleaded for help. Maya had enough and stood up. She walked up to the partition
between the two compartments and shouted at the boys to stop. The boys froze,
but as soon as they realized that Maya was on the other side of the partition,
they jeered at her and started mocking the girl and Maya.
Maya now could not take it any more and much to her surprise
as well as those of the boys and the men & women watching her; she climbed on
the seat and jumped over the railing of the partition into the next
compartment. The boys were stunned and did not know how to react.
Seeing Maya jump over to their compartment, the men seated
there also stood up and walked up to the boys.
The terrified girl rushed to Maya and hid behind her, all
the while holding onto Maya for dear life. The men gathered around the boys and
started heckling them and pushed them off at the next platform. Thankfully a
few Railway Police Officers were stationed at the platform and took the boys
into custody.
All those in the compartments started clapping for Maya, who
held the girl in her arms. The girl folded her palms and thanked Maya and
called her ‘Devi’ for saving her.
Did Maya feel like a Devi; or was she simply a girl looking
out for herself and those in need.
To the girl, Maya seemed like Maa Shailputri; full of Strength,
Courage and Composure.
Truly Maya was one of the forms of the Divine Goddess.
No comments:
Post a Comment