Every Sunday I attend coaching classes and board a bus from CMBT to T Nagar. One time, I got a seat for a change and as I was thanking my stars, an old man, barely able to walk, boarded the bus. He did not find a place to sit. The other passengers did not offer their seats even after seeing him standing there.
The man turned hopefully towards a child of about eight or nine years and requested him to give up his seat. The child at once agreed. The mother, on the other hand, was not so pleased. She started arguing with him and continued to berate him for asking the child to give up his seat instead of someone from the men’s side till he got down at the next stop. He was clearly displeased. The conductor had turned a blind eye and the tension was palpable in the bus.
Our society has become devoid of altruism. The old are neglected and they can no longer depend on public transport. People have become self-obsessed and lost their compassion.
But then I ask myself, “Why didn’t I come forward that day?”
The writer is a student at KV Ashok Nagar
