It was a few minutes that will perhaps be remain etched in my mind, for however long it stays etched.

At a bus stop in London, was a gentleman (maybe in his early thirties) in a motorised wheelchair. As a bus stopped in the bus stop, he used the controls to position his wheelchair in such a way, that he could get into the bus.

The ramp which was supposed to open to the pavement, for the gentleman to wheel himself into the bus, did not open.

The bus did not move and neither did the gentleman in the wheelchair. The driver of the bus got down to see what the problem was. He tried pushing a small part of the ramp which was out, to see if it would open out further. It didn’t. The gentleman in the wheelchair waited. The driver in all his frustration swore loudly, stomped on the partially protruding ramp, got into the bus and drove it forward a wee wee little bit. The bus stopped.

There were a few people in the bus stop, including us. Since we were new to this country, we weren’t aware of the process; and we waited watching what was happening. While most of the others in the bus stop carried on with their work, one of them went ahead and saw that the ramp had opened to the pavement. He asked the gentleman in the wheelchair to wheel ahead and board the bus. The pavement did not offer space to do that. When we saw the person helping, we too thought we could see how we could help (an aspect of the Indian culture at work :-)). We thought he could go around the bus stop (while still being on the pavement) and wheel himself into the bus. The pavement did not have enough space for movement on that side too. We heard the gentleman mouthing in a voice that appeared garbled, “I can’t get in.”

The bus did not move further forward because the lines were drawn indicating that that was the end of the bus stop. Neither did it reverse. Nobody in the bus stop, moved either. It was a couple of minutes where time seemed to have stayed still (no proverbs on time seemed to be of relevance).  Suddenly the bus reversed and stopped. The ramp opened out to the pavement and the gentleman wheeled himself into the bus. Could not but let out a silent cheer and a yayyyyy!!! Still gives goosebumps recalling the experience…

The one word that instantly occurred to me is ‘Inclusion’. A few aspects that resonated deeply in me..

– acceptability – no one stared at the person in the wheelchair.. no one I heard saying, “Oh, how sad” or “why couldn’t some family member accompany him?” etc etc…

– infrastructure – the ramp that allows the movement inside and out of the bus.. the road that allows a person in a wheel chair to be independent in their movement.. a wheel chair that is so comprehensive and simplistic in storage and controls..

– following process – I am not sure if the mandate is that a person in a wheel chair cannot be left behind,  because the ramp wasn’t coming on to the pavement.. or if it was the thought of the driver that he should not leave this situation unattended.. that fine balance of following the road rules of stopping within the bus stop lines and ensuring that the person in the wheelchair boards the bus using the ramp.. truly amazing to witness this balance.. 

Being the optimist that I am, I am sure there will be a day when we will find a similar happening in India. When will that be? I don’t know but it sure will..

Until then, here’s to making inclusion happen in every step taken, as much as possible..