Equality...just a train ride away

At our lunch party over the weekend, the discussion turned to my summer trip to India. During the conversation one of our guests, who is a senior vice president at a large multinational company, described an Indian feature she really loved- separate lines for women in most places. While there would be a lot of men waiting in line for check-in at the airport, for example, the separate line for women would be much shorter and she would get through quickly.

There is an interesting article in the NYT today- "India’s Railways, Women Find New Peace in Commute." An extract from the article:

"As the morning commuter train rattled down the track, Chinu Sharma, an office worker, enjoyed the absence of men. Some of them pinch and grope women on trains, or shout insults and catcalls, she said. Her friend Vandana Rohile agreed and widened her eyes in mock imitation.“Sometimes they just stare at you,” said Ms. Rohile, 27. Up and down the jostling train, women repeated the same theme: As millions of women have poured into the Indian work force over the last decade, they have met with different obstacles in a tradition-bound, patriarchal culture, but few are more annoying than the basic task of getting to work. The problems of taunting and harassment, known as eve teasing, are so persistent that in recent months the government has decided to simply remove men altogether. In a pilot program, eight new commuter trains exclusively for female passengers have been introduced inIndia’s four largest cities: New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Calcutta. The trains are known as Ladies Specials, and on one recent round trip in which a male reporter got permission to board, the women commuting between the industrial town of Palwal and New Delhi were very pleased. “It’s so nice here,” said a teacher, Kiran Khas, who has commuted by train for 17 years. Ms. Khas said the regular trains were thronged with vegetable sellers, pickpockets, beggars and lots of men. “Here on this train,” she said, as if describing a miracle, “you can board anywhere and sit freely.”..."