Well for the story, I’m currently hiding somewhere behind a computer screen in a country named Mauritius… sounds familiar? Well yea it’s the rainbow island whose independence coincidently falls a few days after Women Day… We have a woman president, yea we do and it’s our first too. Oh did I mention the speaker of the parliament is a woman too… You must be wondering again how those relates and why I’m being a jerk and not being a gentleman and standing up for the weak ladies who can barely stand for themselves, do you? Well since you must have located me by now, so it’s ok to reveal my location, I’m in the Flacq region (who knows we might just have exchanged greetings in the bus) and for some reasons I travelled exclusively by bus to school (Free transport you say). I had a love hate story with the public transport since secondary school days and at that time my first lover was the 26 Flacq (you read well, the lover was not in the bus but was the bus line itself, weird I know…) I was younger and trying to make the world a better place and still do… I was told women should be respected as they are mothers, they should be protected as they are weak… and above all I was told or, should I say, forced to give my seat in the bus to young girls my age and young university ladies. I was yelled and called a sovaz if my 12 year old self (with a bag weighting as much as myself on the back) refused to do so, as the boy(the one who could hardly support himself) should always support females…
Then as I grew older I broke up officially with the 26 Flacq bus (I was secretly seeing her from time to time) and started a relationship with the 17 Curepipe bus… I was 17, not sure if a child or adult, but I was still kind enough to respond to the command like “Ladies first” which was either said by the ‘ladies’ themselves or even policemen when they make students queue up for the bus… you woke up 2 hours earlier, reached the queue one hour earlier and first in the line but because you have a dick, you are told “ladies first” and the girls queue up first and from being number 1 in the original queue, you are now number 71 (If I am not mistaken the bus takes 65 passengers right?) The thing is that girls even use the “ladies first” mantra when it arranges them and it was getting frustrating but well… (let it go.. let it go)
“Those college guys are so stupid, they really think we (women) need their help, ban p’ti galants sa”
The straw that broke the camel back (not even sure why I’m using this, when we do not even have camels here in Mauritius) was when a young lady told me “please can you give me your seat for a few minutes, I’m tired and will get down at the next stop”… I am not annoyed at the lady (an adult around 25) but maybe at myself for having ‘offered’ my precious seat at that time… I did and a few moments later she was giggling and telling someone next to her, “Those college guys are so stupid, they really think we (women) need their help, ban p’ti galants sa”. I was being insulted and the ice on the cake, she actually lied and I stood for one hour and she got down at the terminus not the next stop. I came to a realization, women are not weak… they just aren’t…
“Human beings who could support themselves and did not need a man to stand for them…”
Well then I turned an adult (and university student) and I had to leave my teenage sweetheart for the 15 Rosehill… She was hotter than my previous lover… hotter like literally… (Try surviving with the windows shut for 30 minutes, then you tell me!!!) Believe it or not, I was still trying to offer my seat to ladies then something happened for the first time, they refused and would not even let me hold their bags… For the first time I saw ( I ‘saw’ as previously it was just those I ‘learnt’) the definition of women… human beings who could support themselves and did not need a man to stand for them… Up to 10 girls could line up standing in that bus and not falter, they were simply strong those women with their heavy bags and the flame in their heart to bear it all until they reach their destination on their own… I felt in love yea… yea I did fell in love with the beauty of gender equality… and till then decided never to give my seat to a lady just because she is a woman… (but if you are old or really need a seat, I would still give my seat whether you are male or female, rest assured)
“So Sorry Ladies, I won’t give you my seat…I believe you are strong…”
So Sorry Ladies, I won’t give you my seat as I don’t believe I need stand up for you… I believe you can stand up on your own… I believe you are strong… You are not to be respected because you are mothers or future mothers (motherhood is a choice not a default setting) but because you are humans… So Happy Women Day, my sweethearts keep going strong… love you all
Note: The above represents the personal opinion/narratives of the writer.
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