People who live in New Delhi generally come across the scenes of many sitting on the floor while traveling in Metro. Co-passengers use to offer seats to the people who actually need the seat. They might not be aware of the fact that it’s also prohibited by law to sit on the floor in the metro. Commuters can be asked to de-board the train and even be fined for taking to the floor.

How many of you enjoy sitting on the floor while traveling in Metro? How many of you have deliberately emptied a seat to enjoy sitting cross-legged on the floors with dirty footsteps? There won’t be many, right?

But, there are a few people who indulge the annoying habit of breaking the laws for their convenience or because there’s no seat available.

Recently, a photograph in which mother and her kid were sitting in the seats while their caretaker was sitting on the floor in the metro rail went viral on social media. In this case, the unavailability of the seat was not a problem because there are empty seats that can be seen in the picture. Then why did the caretaker sit on the floor?

This question left several people angered, and also urged others to debate sense into what they didn’t experience. The photograph in question was taken and shared by Twitter user Sanya Dhingra.

Seen in Delhi metro: Mother and child take seats while the child’s nanny sits on the floor on a fairly empty train. Caste/class discrimination really is space-agnostic. pic.twitter.com/cawsIU2zWs

— Sanya Dhingra (@DhingraSanya) January 20, 2018

Social media today has become an inseparable part of every being’s life. It is a platform which engulfs the entire globe in its fire. A stain on it and everybody knows about it. But the generation should know to utilize it appropriately and make the most out of the technology and its opportunities.

As soon as the user tweeted the picture, there were numerous re-tweets and people started giving their varying point of views and illustrations. The only reason which seems the most appealing that the issue of caste and class conflicts are yet so high, she was being forced to sit away from her employer.

If there are vacant seats available and she is not sitting, how is this a caste discrimination? pic.twitter.com/5WqziSknGJ

— Rahul Raj (@bhak_sala) January 21, 2018

There is a seat to the far right of the girl with the pink sweater. Maybe this lady decided to sit down. Who knows?

— GV (@cricket_junkie) January 20, 2018

lets agree that somebody convinced her and she still decided to sit on the floor, is it ok then? It is not entirely abt blaming the ppl travelling with her but abt realizing that convinced or not, it is a troubling sight

— The Couching Tiger (@22yds) January 20, 2018

what if you ask that if SHE *likes* it that way then why is that? is that a matter of a choice or being suppressed to a point where you just accept it?

— The Couching Tiger (@22yds) January 20, 2018

how about, even if she did, it was someone’s moral and social responsibility to convince her to sit on a seat? do we know that much?

— The Couching Tiger (@22yds) January 20, 2018

Fair enough. Are you sure that she was not convinced? Like I said how did @DhingraSanya come to the conclusion discrimination happened? Did she talk to the concerned parties?

— GV (@cricket_junkie) January 20, 2018

As a society where such differences are glaringly prevalent, it seemed like a normal discussion. They also questioned the photographer was too quick to judge and could have solved the problem by offering the lady the vacant seat next to her.

Twitter Reactions:

Itni bewakuf kaise ho sakti ho aap? pic.twitter.com/kIy07OdAZ5

— Smoking Skills (@SmokingSkills_) January 21, 2018

And why did not u offered her a seat besides u as i can see empty one..?? pic.twitter.com/ASbtdyQzPH

— The Old Monk (@man_frm_krypton) January 20, 2018

Whatever it was, it certainly led to people talking and that alone suggests that only change can weaken the divisions between the privileged and the not-so-privileged. If given a thought, social media holds the power to arise the emotions of millions of citizens and bind them together to work against the same cause.