What Do Delhi Women Feel About Kejriwal's 'Bhai Dooj' Gift? I Found Out on a Free Bus Ride
On Tuesday, I did something I have literally never done. I rode a public bus to work.
The Delhi government rolled out a travel scheme that offers free rides to women in the national capital in over 5,500 state-run buses. Women travelers will be given special pink tickets in Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) and cluster buses to avail the free-ride scheme.
Calling it his bhai dooj gift, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted, "The country can progress when the women will progress."
So when I boarded the DTC bus from Vasant Kunj and the conductor asked me to get my ticket, I was naturally surprised. The smiling conductor seemed to guess my confusion and urged me to come forth, nonetheless. Instead of pulling out a ticket from the regular stack, he fished out a new, pink stack of slips and handed me one.
A woman's outline peeped up from the bright pink paper in my hand with the words "single yatra (travel) pass" printed under it. On the back was a message in Hindi addressed to me by Kejriwal himself. Translated roughly, it read, "I want great prosperity for you and your family. When women progress, the country progresses". The note was signed and stamped with a pixilated photo of the CM's face.
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