SOME men have a habit of becoming talkative with women on the road when the women have their ears plugged with headphones of radio or mp3 players. Autodrivers and bus drivers become increasingly vocal about their views when they know the woman addressed to would not be able to hear. When confronted they could easily say: “No didi, I was not talking to you.”
A colleague who had her ears plugged but her radio was not on was looking for an auto towards Salt Lake. An auto driver of another route asked whether she is headed to Baguiati. She heard him but since that was not her destination, she did not reply. Confident that she cannot hear him, the auto driver sang a lewd song and said, “Didi, if you keep your ears plugged how would you listen to better songs?” When she confronted him, the driver promptly said that it was for her benefit he was telling her to remove her headphone while walking. “Do you know how many people are meeting accidents because of this,” he said. The colleague’s fury knew no bounds and she started threatening him and demanded an apology. The other auto drivers sensed trouble and pulled him away after apologizing.
Soma Basu
Fakir Ki Fakiri 