Not always, most of the time, we traveled together…we means me and my new friend Mayuri Hazarika in the same ladies 1st class compartment. Today she asked me a very funny question. She asked me whether I got disturbed or not if my husband talked with his female colleagues or whether I am keeping the same friendship with my male friends after my marriage. I was surprised at her question because by profession she is an advocate and her non Assamese fiancée is also an advocate. Some times their profession must demand the interactions with the opposite genders too. But they have some problems regarding their friendships in opposite gender. She admitted that I am carrying a free and independent life only because of my ASSAMESE husband.
After reading my blog “Jurun Vs Joutuk”, my senior Jutiba pointed out the broad and up to date social activities in our Assamese society in comparison to the other parts of India. She pointed out the severe dowry system in other societies for which the killing of baby girl increases hazardously day by day. She mentioned that the dowry is dependent on the education of the girl…it will be increased with the education she is achieving. It increases with the educational qualification and nature of the job. If somehow a well educated /well established boy doesn’t want to take the dowry, the girl’s family will assume that there may be some problem (physically/mentally/socially) with the boy. Some people therefore pretend to be innocent by showing this excuse. And surprisingly some girls also enjoy the amount of money or whatever else get from her parents home. They think those will help them in settling down in future. They don’t have regret about what could be happened to their parents. If this system continues, then it will be really a curse for those parents in having a baby girl.
For Jutiba, we people are really lucky for some cases which we do not face in our life….but I say that there are still miles to go to get purely reformed of ourselves.
I got depressed when I found some situations very unjustified at my home place. At the Vasai road station, Mumbai, I often notice one blind person who stands with some file covers, some handkerchiefs and some other goods. I get surprised to observe his hard work and belief to the people who might cheat him also in purchasing the goods. But no body does it only because of his honesty for not pretending to be a blind man.
But I think most of the people on the city bus route via Chandmari, Guwahati might face one blind person at Chandmari itself who is not actually blind, who pretends to be blind begging the passengers of the buses and after that simply walks away from that place. Interestingly the bus conductors are also with him to be inside the buses and then start the buses to its destination. I personally got cheated by that fake blindness. That day, I was with my friend on the way to some place. Though I often met that blind person, I could not catch his fraud blindness. Interestingly he started begging praying for the passengers differently. Since I was with my friend so he prayed for us to get a happy life together…similarly he prayed for the old lady, for the college girls, for the children etc etc. Some times it became very suspected to get the exact picture of a place for a blind person. Still I did not notice those things. But that day, my friend noticed that, just after getting down from the bus, he simply walked away from that busy and rushed place without any help and even laughed together with the conductors taking one cigarette leisurely. My friend was about to catch him red handed but unfortunately the bus moved fast in which we were sitting.
After that day, I again met that fraud blind man inside the bus….but this time I was alone. He followed the same technique to beg the passengers. But when I told the passengers not to give him a single coin, surprisingly the passengers asked me in return how I could know about his blindness because they had been meeting this poor fellow for several years. The bus conductor also accompanied them. Ultimately I did not say a single word letting them to donate their hard worked earnings to that fraud poor fellow.
At some other place, I was in a queue outside an ATM booth. The queue was very long. I was at the second position. But I could not get the logic of the delay of the people inside the booth. The inside could not be seen from the outside. So I could not guess the exact number of people who were inside the ATM booth. When it became too late, the first person of the queue peeped inside and instantly he also entered the booth. Then I was repeatedly asked from behind to enter the booth so that the people behind me could enter there. While I peeped the booth, I got speechless in counting the total number of people who were there for long time. It was approximately 15 to 20 persons in an ATM booth….just imagine!!!!
crowded ATM booth
When I refused to enter the booth, then the people behind me got ready to enter themselves. It was very unjustified. I showed them the statements written on the door of the booth. ATM booth restrictions are made only for the security and privacy of us. If we do not follow them, it will be very worth less to complain against any unfair activity held inside the booth or with our ATM cards.
But when I told them the logic, they simply replied that there would not be any one in this world to follow all the rules made for the public. They simply asked me to follow them at my place, not at their locality. They even criticized rudely about my behavior and asked me to show the justification at some other places.
I had nothing to comment….
Still I have nothing to comment about the present status of the society at my home place. I simply request all of my friends to show others the proper way to follow some methods….for which you people will be benefited.
Really there are miles to go before we get reformed……
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