Willpower…. Stamina…. Action!

“Who asked you to be the ‘Hero’?”, my mother shouted while wiping some blood off my bleeding knee. Her tone was full of anger, mixed with genuine concern for my well-being.

After some time, I even noticed a drop of tear run down her cheek as she still put on the act of being very angry with me over what I had just done.

I went over to her and hugged her tightly.

I was really hurt and just wanted to rest over her shoulder for some time.

But as soon as she touched my head and kissed my forehead, her face melted down with a sweet smile.

I said to her, “Mummy, what just happened, had I not intervened in it, I could not have got a sound sleep tonight”.

It was 12:50 at night, and I had just returned from my office with a bruised elbow and a bleeding knee. I had severe pain in my face due to the force with which I was pushed on the metal rod installed on the footboard of the local train.

I fell on my knee in the process and hurt myself mildly.

“I ask you again, why did you have to be the Hero in all this?”, my mother repeated her question, but in a softer tone now.

I continued, “Mummy, usually there is always a cop in every ladies' compartment of the locals after 10 pm. But today there was none in mine. It was already past 12 and those rowdy guys found the perfect chance to get into the compartment and create havoc. You know it, the first-class women’s compartment is very small and at this time usually, it hardly has 3 to 4 passengers. None of us knew what to do. They terribly groped the girl standing near the door. She was shouting for help. The train had started moving. She realized nothing can be done until the next station and was crying desperately. She was pleading with them to let go of her. We were two of us sitting inside and, initially, we tried to hide while listening to their cheap comments and her cries. But I seriously could not take it anymore. We all just talk about how brave women should be, and how we must learn self-defense, and learn to combat such situations. But no one has the guts to do anything when such disgusting things happen in front of them. I motivated the other girl to come and fight with me, but she was too scared and refused. I had no other choice.

I took the pain spray I had in my purse and stepped ahead, spraying as much as I could, rapidly and directly in each one’s eyes. The strong burning sensation did manage to pacify them. I took the opportunity to kick each of them in the balls as hard as I could. One of them almost fell on the floor, but the others now tried to grab me. I scuffled with them. I instructed the girl getting groped to hit them hard. She also started tearing their faces with her sharp pointy nails.

By the time this drama unfolded, the train had entered the next station, which was just three minutes away from where they had onboarded. We shouted at the top of our voices so that men from the neighboring compartments could come and rescue us.

Luckily, it worked, and a few men gathered at our door. The molesters knew they will get caught now. They threw me roughly towards the grab bar and pushed ‘her’ aside too. Then they managed to jump off the train from the opposite end of the platform and vanished in the dark.

The passengers had seen it all. They immediately alerted the cops and all three of us were off-boarded. Soon lady constables came in to help us with first aid.

I was okay, just lightly hurt, but ‘that’ girl who got groped was crying and shivering with fear. Her t-shirt was torn, and she was embarrassed too. She looked at me with thankfulness in her eyes, but she couldn’t speak. I told the cops I will be fine and boarded the next train to return home.

I have taken her number; I will speak to her tomorrow morning to see if she is fine.

Now are you satisfied, Mummy? See! I am perfectly okay, nothing has happened to your sweet, innocent, little daughter”, I joked and hugged my mother again.

But this time, my mother spoke in a very different tone. She said, “Something indeed has happened to my sweet, innocent, tiny daughter! She has grown up to be a woman – a woman who can make me proud, she knows how to stand against wrong and even fight for herself and other women if needed. I am not like you, I get scared by all these things, but the courage you have is tremendous, Pragati. Go, be yourself! Fight for the right. And remember one thing, You Are the Hero! My Hero!”

With all the motivation from my mother, and with the confidence of having done the right thing, I slept peacefully that night.