Men Taking Up Space: A Daily Struggle in Mumbai Autos

Thanks for reading ~ This is a long one (TLDR: Below) Okay so I (25F) was returning from my job. I travel anywhere from 4-5 hours daily up and down for work in a very congested train and auto combo. Today after getting off the train, I found that there was no auto and I had to stand in a line (which happens a little too often) and thankfully after 5 minutes I was in one. I was the first one to get in and then three me after me (one sitting in front with the driver). We were all midsized people and as it often happens, the auto was also quite jam packed. So both I and uncle’s arms and hands were touching- HE WASN’T TRYING TO TOUCH ME OR ANYTHING - it was just due to the space shortage (or god knows, as a woman you’re always wondering). So I am sat on the exit side and he in the middle. My arm touching the uncle was griping outside the auto as I wanted to create space and also not touch the uncle. After like 5 minutes, (still extremely uncomfortable), I noticed that it the uncle put his hand (that was touching me) on his bag instead of his knee(while his legs stretched open), we would not touch each other. So i asked him very politely, saying ‘sir..’ He didn’t respond to me or do anything, I felt quite sad and thought about letting this go but there was 20 minutes more. I then decided to take my hand and also keep it on my knees! Why should only he (or men) be allowed to claim space!?! After a while he said, please don’t keep your hand there and I explained if he kept his hand on his bag, we both could’ve hand plenty of space but i am just doing as he did!! After a second, with a show of disappointment he took his hands on his bag and I took mine back to clutching the exteriors of the auto! Maybe inadvertently yet unapologetically men claim so much extra space! Especially in a city so unforgiving with space. I think as women asking for space is a duty to all women and for men being conscious of it is a gift to all. What are your thoughts? TLDR: TL;DR A woman in a packed auto politely asked a man to adjust his posture so they wouldn’t have to touch due to space constraints. He ignored her, so she mirrored his posture, making him uncomfortable. When he finally asked her to move, she pointed out the imbalance, and he reluctantly adjusted. This highlights how men often take up unnecessary space without realizing it. A clearer initial request, like “Sir, if you keep your hand on your bag, we’ll both have more space,” might have helped, but ingrained habits make such conversations tricky.