In India, being stranded at a public space late at night is undoubtedly a woman’s worst nightmare.
We have all faced situations where we have had no option but to travel without a companion, and sometimes, that happens way past the regular hours of societal functioning.
Typically, such scenarios prove to be frightening for women, as they have to constantly remain vigilant to prevent attacks from stalkers or sexual offenders.
Athira Jayan recently faced a similar situation, when she was the lone passenger on the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bus from Thiruvananthapuram to Coimbatore on June 2. The young woman, who works at Athani was supposed to meet her brother at the Chavara bus stop at 1:30 a.m. However, due to heavy rainfall, he was unable to reach the location on time.
In a time when one is mistrustful of even close relatives, the bus conductor and driver of the very same KSRTC bus that Athira was travelling in, turned out to be her guardian angels and watched over the young woman till her brother arrived.
Conductor PB Shaiju and driver K Gopakumar were worried about the safety of the woman being left alone at the deserted bus stop past midnight and didn’t want any unfortunate incident to befall over her.
In a heartwarming gesture, they stayed put with her for about seven minutes without giving a second thought about running behind schedule. Fortunately, her brother reached the spot by then and took her home safely.
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The news only came to the fore when Athira posted about the entire incident in the form of a thank-you note for the kind gentlemen on social media.
Thanks to Athira’s gesture, both Shaiju and Gopakumar, who are staffers at the Thiruvananthapuram central depot, became overnight celebrities on various social media platforms and were flooded with appreciative messages for their thoughtful and kind intervention.
In fact, the duo was even lauded by Tomin Thachankary, the KSRTC managing director, as well as other top officials in the department.
People like PB Shaiju and K Gopakumar, who went beyond their call of duty to help a young woman in need without a second thought, are ones who restore our faith in humanity and make us believe that kindness comes from most unexpected quarters.
(Edited by Gayatri Mishra)