The True Feminist

Arushi stood in Dadar bus stand looking around desperately, totally lost. While leaving the house in the morning she was not aware of the fact that there was a flash strike of all Uber and other taxies. Had she known she would have taken the car and asked her husband Arpit to share a ride with his business partner Balu. Oh, God! She had an important presentation at Vasi at nine sharp and she was stuck. There was no mode of transport.

She had worked so hard spending late nights for this project and her head started aching and eyes were burning. She was now sweating profusely for no reason. She wiped her face with a tissue and looked around pathetically. Looking at her desperation, a bus conductor came for her help and suggested that she could take an ST bus to Vasi and that bus was just about to leave in five minutes. There was no other choice and she hurried towards the bus.

She got in and found the bus was nearly empty, but in each seat, one person was sitting at the window seat. Reluctantly she sat near a woman. She was lucky because the bus started immediately. She had never ever travelled in a BEST bus and as their car use to wait in the signal she had seen the ST bus- paint peeling, covered fully with mud etc. but never dreamed that one day she will be travelling in one. As the bus rushed on it jolted so heavily that she was thrown about ten inches up and down from the seat. Added to that, the fat village women sitting next to her near the window was constantly chewing Tobacco and spitting outside the window. She tried to calm herself and prayed that the journey will end soon. About twenty minutes run the bus started turning from the highway into a village road. She was surprised because so far she had thought the ST bus was end to end buses and they never stopped on its way.

As she watched half irritated at getting late, a full crowd of villagers, most of them with a basket of fish entered and the bus got fully loaded. One more fat women came in and physically pushing her with her body, occupied the other side of her.  Now she was sandwiched between two fat women. They both were wearing the conventional nine-yard sari and sat strangely in a way spreading their legs wide. Some strange oil in their hair, the smell of their Tobacco, and the odour of their sweating bodies were so disgusting. Her costly well-pressed blue formal full suit was now getting miserably crushed by the women on both sides. But she had no choice. She looked around if she had a chance to change her seat. There were three are four well-dressed men on the bus but they were also sharing it with some village male members. Added to all these the women on both the sides started talking something loud with each other across her puncturing her eardrums. Tears welled in her eyes at her own plight.

About twenty minutes of this painful journey, Arushi found that her splitting headache was increasing and she could also feel the razing fever inside her. Suddenly she felt some queer squeaky feeling rising from her stomach and before she could control she knew she was about to throw out. She desperately closed her mouth with a hand and looked around wondering how to stop the bus. But the fluid churning upward was not under her control. The women sitting on her right shouted something and within seconds, emptied the contents of her canvas bag, all the vegetables, on the floor of the bus and instantly held it open near her face. The women on the right now massaged her back. Arushi threw her whole stomach content and that unknown women closed it and held it tight without an atom of distaste.

Both of these women now shouted something to the conductor and the bus stopped. Someone gave an old bottle of water and she took two mouthfuls of water. Her eyes closed and she collapsed on the seat. There was so much commotion among the passengers about the next action. The two women decided among themselves and with the help of other passengers lifted her off the bus down to the road. As the bus left they called an auto and lifted Arushi inside. They told the driver to take them to a good hospital as the unknown lady was seriously ill. Even before the auto stopped in front of the hospital, one of the women ran screaming loudly, calling for help. Her loud voice and screaming instantly brought two ward boys running down with a stretcher. Hearing all the noise, a doctor on duty too came immediately and on examining took Arushi directly to emergency ICU.

The nurse at the reception looked at the village lady and then the patient admitted curiously and on asking they told her that they were just on a bus with the said lady. As the nurse wondered how to proceed with the identity of the lady, one of the village women handed her the purses of Arushi. The nurse opened the purse and got the ID Card of Arushi and her cell phone. She found the number of her husband Arpit and gave him a call and told him in brief about Arushi.

As a shocked Arpit travelled down with his friend , he muttered to Balu, “For past three days this Arushi had been working like the devil. Whole day and night she had worked. I told her so many times to take some rest. But who knew that she had burnt herself this much? And how did she reach a hospital near Vasi?”

They rushed inside the hospital and reaching the reception and getting the information rushed to the doctor. The doctor said, “Your wife is running a very high temperature. We had run a blood test but is not able to find any conclusion as to the type of infection. But we are trying our best to control the temperature and had put her on drip and oxygen just to keep her body relaxed”

As they were not allowed to go in the ICU, a nurse helped him to go inside the first door and from there he could see her bed through the glass window. With a deep anguish, he walked out. Meanwhile, the receptionist noticed that the two village women were sitting there for the past two hours, and got some tea for them which they reluctantly accepted. Arpit now only remembered that he forgot to ask the receptionist as to who got Arushi admitted to the hospital. As he looked around and found no office staff of Arushi was waiting there he came back to reception. The nurse pointed to the two village women sitting silently on the bench and explained how they had managed to bring her from the ST bus to the hospital.

Arpit and Balu walked to them and as Arpit folded his palm and said Namaskar, Balu who could talk the village type of Marathi said, ”This is Arpit, the husband of women you brought. We are both very grateful to you for your gesture and kindness” The woman enquired about Arushi’s health and after hearing that she was recovering they got up ready to go. Arpit pulled out his wallet from his pocket and before he opened it one of the women held his hand and said, “If you see someone on the road in trouble and take them to the doctor will you accept money for your help?” As Arpit stood dazed they laughed loudly and together they walked out of the hospital

After two hours Doctor called them and said,” Good sign! Her temperature is coming under control and she had come back to consciousness. You can see her just for five minutes without disturbing her”

Arpit sat near her bed unable to say anything and silently held her hand. She smiled with an effort and whispered something. Arpit bend down moving close to her face and asked: “What is it Arushi?”She said again with an effort “Those two women who brought me here? Where are they?”Ayush explained as to how they waited until he reached the hospital and continued to wait until they understood that she was out of danger and then walked away.

Arushi’s eyes suddenly welled as she thought “How much I cursed them in that half an hour for their stinking smell and loud talk. And without a moment’s hesitation, she held the bag for me to vomit as if she was my mother. There were some well-dressed men too on the bus but no one wanted to waste their time on an unknown person. And these two village women, leaving their own work, brought me here by spending their own money, maybe from the very few rupees they might be having. They waited until they knew that I was out of danger. Oh God! How narrow were my thoughts to curse them” As tears continued to run from her eyes Arpit sat dazed not knowing the reason for her tears.