Today a strange thing happened while I was going back home. I travel by the famous western railway trains in mumbai from lower parel to bandra. I was standing in the corridor near the door and it was empty so I was carelessly listening to the song "Jab koi baat bigad jaye" When the train reached dadar station and just when the train was about to start again a lady boarded the train running. As the train caught its pace another lady said "Ye 1st class hai; aap doosare station pe utar jaana"The lady stood quietly at her place. In a fraction of seconds some other female said that "Doosara station woh side aayega; aap utar jaana"The 1st lady still dint say anything. Slowly more females started telling her that you should get down at other station and the females started conversing to each other things like "Ye log galat kar rahe hai" "They are not supposed to travel by 1st class" Etc. To which the lady replied "Mere pass railway pass hai aur waise bhi mai mahim utar jaungi."Again the females started saying things like "Ek toh wrong compartment mei chade toh phir mahim utar k kya matlab" "Yeh log rule todte hai" Etc. By now matunga had been crossed and mahim was about to come. All the educated and sophisticated ladies were boiling with rage now as if they all wanted to just humiliate the female for boarding a 1st class compartment purposely. To answer their rage the lady quietly removed her pass from her pocket and showed it to one of the female….. It was a pass to travel by 1st class with her photograph on the I card. Sudden silence………….. Mahim came and the lady patiently got down with a humble smile towards the ladies…for me it was like a movie scene where the hero has a glorious victory. As the train passed mahim I was smiling looking at the faces of the other females…a few of them felt humiliated themselves…and why all this fuss…just because the female in question was looking like she belonged to a lower middle class background and couldn't afford a 1st class pass; which is because she was wearing a very plain saree which would naturally give that impression to others and that might be the truth also for all we know. But being from a lower middle class doesnt mean she can not travel by 1st class, right? Which made me think why is it so normal for people to make an assumption about someone from their clothes and looks. I thought about it as I was also wearing a dull kurti as every once a while I get tired of dressing up and then I take anything that comes in my hand and wear it and move out. If it wasnt for the smart phone in my hand and my careless attitude could it have been me in that lady's place? ?? Who knows! !! We have always heard but never practise it properly "Do not judge a book by its cover"I enjoyed my journey back home today for all its fun…sometimes I do love travelling in the mumbai railways. 