Blank Noise Spectators

What bothers me is the apathy and sheer ignorance that people around exhibit. I'm from Lucknow and was traveling in a Tata Sumo once, which is what used to be one of the forms of public transport here a few years back. (The year this happened being 2005). Anyone who has ever traveled in the back seat of a Tata Sumo knows how cramped and nauseating that can be. To compound the misery, the Sumo driver used to take six people on the two bench-like seats at the back to earn more so you have no choice but to sit squashed inside like a pack of sardines. I was going to my Grandmother's house and was compelled to take the Sumo owing to my bike being given for repairs.

A girl got on from the Railway Station. She must've been a few years younger than me, had a suitcase with her and I assumed she was returning from some college somewhere. She sat on the side opposite mine since mine was already occupied with a middle-aged woman and an elderly man. There was already a middle-aged man sitting there (I'll call him MAPOS - middle-aged piece of shit). After she got in, another man got in after her and she was sandwiched between the two.
Sarika

The MAPOS kept sitting there very coolly with his arms crossed. After a while I noticed that the girl was looking very uncomfortable. And I realized that this guy was fondling her breasts with a very disgustingly constipated look on his face. He obviously assumed that he was hiding the fact really well.

When he just didn't stop, I asked the man on my side of the seat to go sit there and asked the girl to come sit next to me. She was relieved, obviously. And the MAPOS gave me a dirty look like I'd just slapped him. I then had to get down because my stop had come and this guy got down as well.

After all this, he had the gall to ask me what my problem was. I wanted to scream my lungs out at him. I just asked him to mind his hands, left him babbling to himself, paid my fare and left.

Location: Lucknow, in a public transport vehicle