My Mum and Courage in Public Situations

My Mum has a very short fuse :) but when that explosion is directed for the broader good, it is truly inspirational. This last post of this 3-part series on Courage in Public Situations is dedicated to her.

Growing up in India, I had read about a few strong people doing amazing things in public and going well beyond their natural capabilities BUT I had mostly observed in society, that a few tough/rough elements could easily subjugate the public and that tyranny was generally tolerated by silent masses.

So, when I saw My Mum in action for the 1st time, I think it sparked something very special deep in my being. I believe this was when I would have been about 10 years old. On a short notice, My Mum, sis and I had to travel from Dhanbad (Eastern India, then the capital of Coal Mafia) to Mughal Sarai (an equally rough part of India). The trip between the two places is a short few hours journey but in sweltering heat, it can feel like "forever".

Given the short notice for travel, we could not get proper "reservations" in the train for comfortable seating and had to use the "General Compartment (GC)". Now, for those who don't know what a GC is in India, a quick introduction. There are 1 or 2 compartments earmarked in an Indian Railways train that people who have not made "reservations" (money issue, time issue) all cram into. Typically, these compartments carry way more people than stipulated and most "gentrified" society avoids these compartments.

But given our rush, we had to undertake this journey from Dhanbad to Mughal Sarai in a GC. So there we were - Mum, the two kids and an adult male companion (Lets call him "Pyaarejee") to escort the three of us.

The train stops at Dhanbad station and we scramble into the GC. Packed like sardines in a can, we are grateful that we get to perch our bottoms in this fully packed compartment.As people settle down and the train starts pulling out, my Mum looks around and surveys the crowd - ladies uncomfortably sitting, men getting half their bums on to seats and then she sees the contrast .. there are these 2 men sleeping comfortably on a berth while the rest of the 100 people are crammed together.

Immediately, my Mum asks the people around the 2 sleeping men to get their attention and asks calmly that these two guys make room for others. Now as they reveal their drowsy faces, it is clear that they are "toughies" or rough elements. "Pyarejee" asks Mum not to push these 2 men. Moreover, no one in that compartment (full, of mostly men) utters a word and most look away from these two men.

But Mum, full of rightful indignation, "explodes" at these two ruffians/toughies. While she is only 5 feet 3 inches or thereabouts, I think to these two sleeping men (ruffians), she appeared as a 200 feet, 10,000 pound giant .. for they got shaken, protested threateningly .. but a few seconds later, they wilted, when they saw that my Mum's anger was not subsiding and she repeatedly shouted them down.

And next you know, these two guys were wet wimps .. they sat up, made room for others... and some uncomfortable folks in that compartment had a better 5-hour journey that evening than they would have had otherwise. More than 30 years later, I still recall this journey with a smile ..

This above episode is but one incident in a series of powerful public displays of guts and courage that Mum showed over the years. Be it correcting emerging hooligans in Calcutta in our community, getting justice for maids in trouble, making nightly rounds to secure the community, taking on a class of 70 who troubled her and her only other lady classmate in law school, protecting her friends in University .... it was Mum who led the way, while most of the community just carried on with their daily business. She repeatedly, through her actions, showed how one can go beyond one's limitations  and how immense courage summoned at the right time can take on more powerful forces in correcting Public wrong. Funnily enough, she never gave us sermons or homilies on doing the right, she just went ahead and DID IT right.

Whenever, I did right in public, I knew a good part of it was because of that train journey with Mum.