New Delhi, March 7 -- Women in Odisha have long faced an unusual yet deeply discriminatory superstition while using public transport. For years, bus operators have prevented women from being the first passengers to board, believing that it would bring bad luck. This practice, rooted in myths, subjected women to humiliation and exclusion, reinforcing gender inequality in everyday life.

When a woman tried to board first, she was often stopped by conductors and drivers, who insisted that a male passenger must step in first to ward off misfortune. Some even justified this discrimination with religious reasoning, claiming that the bus was a sacred space and that a menstruating woman's presence could anger the goddess Maa Kali.

This blatant ...