Public Transportation: My Independence

MANYA MANRAL

It is said that a child's background and upbringing play a major role in shaping their personalities. I come from a fairly stereotypical middle-class Indian family. My mother is a housewife and my father is a government officer. All the women in my family are housewives so I grew up having great respect for professional mothers. I always wondered how it was possible for them to balance their professional and personal lives.

 Growing up, my mother didn't know how to drive a scooty (still doesn't but I don't blame her). I guess it was one of those things which you always think you will do but never get around to actually doing it. As a result of mom not knowing how to drive, we would always use public transportation. My dad had been transferred to Patna so every time we had to go to school and my van wasn't coming, we would be using public transportation.

 I had never used public transportation alone. Living in a place like Uttar Pradesh, the issue of safety is always there at the back of every girl's mind. In my final year of school, I was made an office bearer and my dad, after a stint in Lucknow, was transferred to Allahabad. Being an office bearer meant additional responsibilities. It also meant waiting in school at least one hour after it was over almost every day. My mother has a weak immunity and falls ill easily. She was undergoing treatment for some health issue and it wasn't possible for her to pick me up from school every day. I knew she would fall ill within two days. Luckily that year Lucknow got its metro and going to school became simpler on my own.  Coming back home was a problem as the tempo connecting the metro station and my area would drop me on the other side of a road with very heavy traffic and walking till the metro station was especially tiring after a long day at school. To reach home the other way, I needed to use three vehicles: a rickshaw, an auto rickshaw and a tempo. The first couple of times I was really scared. I knew the route and everything but I would be extra-cautious sitting next to any man and would worry about something going wrong. After the first few times, I gradually became a lot more comfortable.

It is very strange that something as simple as going home yourself can give you such confidence. Going out to do anything seemed like a huge chore for me before. It meant I would have to have to inform my mother so that she could manage her schedule or carpool with my friends, which meant taking permission from my father. I don't have a personal phone so I can't even book cab rides that easily. Using public transportation meant that I didn't have to rely on others all the time. It made going out somewhere less of a burdensome chore and more of a simple task. It was like my brain saying “Oh, it wasn't as difficult as it seemed”. My school had week long extravaganza to celebrate its hundred and fiftieth anniversary and as a result I had to be in school at various timings and my ability to travel alone helped not just me but also my family. My mother still jokes about that week saying that she would have fainted by the end of it if have had to drop me off to school. It also made me examine the social mobility amongst women and how unsafe public transportation can deprive them of opportunities which ultimately go to men because they can travel anywhere at odd hours.

Editor’s Note: Its surprising how, sometimes, the littlest of things can make you feel proud and independent. In India, especially, where girls have less freedom, less exposure to the outside world, it’s difficult. Isn’t it funny how girls in India are not allowed to travel alone (because oh strangers), but they are very easily married off to strangers and told that her in-laws, who are also complete strangers, are her new family.

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