Saturday. Around 10:20 a.m. Sion railway station.
My friend Roh and I got tickets from the counter and were climbing the bridge to go to the platform. She was walking a little ahead of me. As I climbed the last step, I felt someone touch me from behind, where he shouldn't have. Sensing something odd, instinctively, I turned to look who that was. This man, definitely atleast 45 yrs. old, looks at me, gives a sly triumphant smile as a mark of having derived cheap pleasure, makes a lewd gesture and 'happily' strides away with the spring-in-his-step! For a moment, I just stared at him in disgust. But the look in his eyes, when he made that gesture, had already infuriated me. I was mad at him, wildly furious. I didn't stop to think further and yelled and screamed after him " kya be saale, sharam nahi aati kya? ....... " (now I feel i should use some gaalis in everyday language, just so I get used to saying them and they may flow out of my mouth with ease when required! maybe I'll write on 'the importance of gaalis' sometime.) So, I was fuming with rage and yelling at him. He started walking faster. I immediately turned around and found a policeman standing there, looking at me. I called him, pointed towards the wrong-doer from atop the bridge as 'there, the white shirt and black pants wala' and told him to run and catch him. Mr. policeman ran... and I was catching up... By this time, this @$$^*!& had reached the platform and was already on his way out through the gate. But Mr. policeman turned out to be efficient enough and paced faster and caught him outside and came with him, to where I was standing.
Now! I gave him a piercing look and said, "Bohot masti chadhi thi na tabhi?" and he was like " Maine kya kiya? Aap hi bataaiye maine kya kiya?" I was shaking with anger. I know why he asked that question. saale ko abhi bhi shaayad utri nahi thi. I'm sure he thought that I won't be able to say it, because there were so many people around by then. I said, I know what you did, you know what you did and you also know that what you did was wrong. Then he says, "Woh toh chalte-chalte dhakka lag gaya" to which i retorted "Aur gande ishaare bhi apne-aap hi ban gaye na?" He tried everything he could, to escape. Even asked the policeman that how can he be arrested just because I am saying something, to which, the policeman told him that she says so, you have to come along. I turned and told Mr. policeman that I'm ready to file a complaint against him, so why talk to him anyway? As I was heading forward, it suddenly struck me - how will my parents react to it? They may not approve. I didn't know. Behind me, he was still pleading to be let off. I turned. I said, " Theek hai, maafi maango, abhi." His immediate reaction was as if I'd hurt his male ego. I said, either you apologize publicly, for what you did, or I'm filing a complaint. The next moment, he folded his hands and said "Sorry madam". I watched his ego crumble into a thousand pieces. And he apologized twice, thrice, five times over. I motioned to Mr. policeman and he let him go. I thanked Mr. policeman; first, for being there at the right moment and second, for doing what he did.
As I walked upstairs, to the bridge, I saw all the people there staring at me. I was still hot-headed. There was anger in my eyes. Roh was standing there, clueless, waiting for me. I then told her everything. We got into the train. My face was so hot! A thermometer would've burst with the heat due to my anger! It was only after an hour or so, that my anger-level lowered a bit. At the end of the day, I felt drained. Naturally so.
But then, there was also this satisfaction inside me. He would've done that to many other women before and they must not have reacted this way, which is why, he did it to me. I can't say whether he will or will not repeat this with someone else, but atleast, I can be sure that he will think twice. And he'll probably never forget me. Moreover, from the crowd of more than a hundred people there who witnessed the incident, the men saw. And the women saw. I don't know whether having seen this will change their attitude. However, I sincerely hope that it does.
Next, I will talk to my mom about it and get to know as to how she'd react if I file a police complaint against someone. Also, I'd like to read the law a bit and know what comes under sexual harassment, what action can be taken, etc.
For now, I feel like a superstar - confident about my confidence.
age at the time of experience: 20 years
current age: 20 years
Posted 12th October 2008
