Small Flex, Big Story

Some of the free tickets I have collected over a year – Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi.

It’s so common for one to question subsidies given to women, as people find it unreasonable when a section of the population finds things hard to afford, regardless of their gender. Though there is a significant number of people who don’t agree with women’s concessions, all of the people who have ever had this conversation with me are those who hardly use the said resources. All these men who have expressed their disagreement with free bus tickets to me are those who haven’t travelled in a public bus in the past 5 to 10 years. These opinions needn’t be silenced but perhaps channeled differently.
The answers I give come with a tone of disappointment and disinterest. The number of opposers may have increased, decreased, or remained stagnant from the day the pink pass was issued in Delhi, but the questions I had to answer definitely came down, for I feel it is taxing to educate people individually when they are hellbent on their ideals. Hence, I started avoiding the same and earned an intimidating, raging feminist tag.
(I don’t mind it.)
It was only starting from my generation that people in my family encouraged women to study. Even in the generation right before us, it was not common for women to go to high school or college, regardless of the fee being very nominal. And if they ever did, it was at their own risk. My mother would tutor students, manage her studies, and pay for her sister’s education because her family saw no point in her higher studies or her working.
But now their eyes soften when they tell my sisters and I to study.
Fathers of these girls who fight for their own future used to casually say, “I won’t give you cash for your bus pass.” And many discontinue their studies for this reason. All these families weren’t affluent, but they could afford the travel. There is a reluctance in many families to invest in their daughters for many reasons; free travel means one less threat stopping women from studying, working, and exploring the city.

Three cities. Three tickets. One story that was never just about the bus.

Object number

018.04.076