...but, she had a super power!!

 

Eva was a dreamer.... not only a dreamer, but also a thinker. She had an ever engaged mind, always thinking of this and that, why and how. And she was never alone, though physically, yes, her thoughts and musings kept her company.

She hated men, or rather was disgusted by them. Not the father, brother, friend, cousin kind of men, but the ones who sat on the stone ledges and shop benches in the junctions, the ones she came across on festival grounds in her hometown, the ones in the buses and trains, and the like. 

Eva believed she had a superpower... She could say by their looks, if those men were eveteasers or not, she could judge whether they would inappropriately touch a woman, by just looking at them. 'Is it really a superpower, or is it just familiarity?', her thoughts ran deeper again, as she waited at the bus stop. She was accompanying her father who was going to meet someone. 

She badly wished the bus wasn't crowded and that she got a seat, beside another woman in the ladies area, preferably next to the window so she could be well out of the boundaries of the exploratory territory of the man. She hated being slightly (even unintentionally) brushed against while getting in and getting off. 

As she stood there, busy in her thoughts, she saw the bus coming. It was the only bus to her destination for now, as the next one would be another 30 minutes later. How she wished it wasn't full of people!! "This is the only bus in 30 minutes..Would many people have gotten in from the previous stop? Did anybody go to the bus station and get in when the journey commenced, like I sometimes do..?", thoughts jammed up inside her head.  

"Eva, come", her dad called out, his voice breaking her thoughts. She quickly hopped on to the bus when she saw it was relatively empty, aiming for that window seat.

She looked around with a hopeful eyes, but there wasn't a window seat available. There were empty spots, though! She thought twice before she sat on the aisle seat 2 seats away from the door. "People are going to come in through this door, and on their way to the front of the bus.....Nah, don't think too much!", she reasoned with herself and sat down, with her antennas still up, though. The bus moved ahead. 

"കുറച്ചു മുന്നോട്ടു നീങ്ങി നിക്കുവോ?" (Can you please move a bit forward?), Eva heard a lady's voice politely pleading from behind. She turned around to see the lady standing at a distance of one seat behind her, and she was addressing the man standing in between the two of them. He was standing just behind her (Eva's) seat, and leaning backwards and lightly touching his behind on the lady's side, making it look as if he was losing balance when the bus moved. She was shocked at what she saw. She quickly turned around and sat with her face down, tightly gripping the rod on the seat in front of her.

"He definitely has a wife and children, he has a mother and sisters, how can be treat another woman like a toy? Why are all men like this?", questions flooded Eva's troubled mind. In between all these doubts, the memory of her father almost beating up a young chap for eve-teasing her mother, came to mind. She was very young at that time, but would never forget that incident. It was something that made her feel so protected. Why can't all men be like that?

"ശേ...ഒന്നു മുന്നോട്ടു മാറി നിക്കു ചേട്ടാ.." (please move and stand a bit forward, "brother"), the voice rang again, this time with a stronger flavour of irritation. Eva turned around, her thoughts being interrupted by the lady's voice, to see the man leaning a bit more on her back, pushing with more force as the bus turned around the corner. He slowly moved an inch away like last time, making it seem as if he didn't know she was addressing him. He wasn't standing where Eva saw him the first time, he had moved back by a step or two, as the lady had moved back as well, to avoid his advances. Eva was so tempted to intervene 'theoretically', but she wasn't bold enough to. And nobody else did either. She again sat with her head down, feeling pained at  the way he was behaving with that lady. She felt violated herself. 

"എത്ര പ്രാവശ്യം പറയണം?! ഒന്നു മാറി നിക്ക്‌." (How many times should I tell you?! Move aside.), the voice rang louder this time, full of anger. Eva didn't turn around, she couldn't, she could feel the lady's pain, anger, everything. She wanted to say something, she wanted to help the poor lady, but.....

Her stop was fast approaching. She just wanted to get out of the bus. As much as she wanted to get out of the situation herself, she also felt the strong urge to support the other lady. It was now or never, she thought. She saw the bus stop in the distance. Gathering all her courage, she got up and turned around to face him. 

Her eyes spoke a language which only she could understand.  The bus was slowing down, but her heart was racing. She grabbed his hand, gave a firm tug, and walked towards the door. "but I had a superpower....", she painfully reflected as she fought the tears from escaping her eyes, with her head hanging down in shame as the words just bolted out of her mouth...."Daddy, come!"

~priya~