26
Jun
Bad governance and public apathy …
What is it with India and its people ? Why are we so full of nonchalance ? Why are we so utterly short-sighted in our estimation of what we will need in the future ?
Let us see an example of what I am talking about. It is something every one knows about and yet would like not to think about. Its called traffic and its one huge phenomenon in India. Traffic in India is probably like no other. Its a unique mix of humans and cattle. The occasional dog spices up the scenery further. But its not the traffic that peeves me often. Its the way its managed. And the central theme of traffic management(or mis-management) is zero-accountability. It starts with the police. They think its their birthright to break the red-light. We can understand if they are on a hot chase (unlikely but still possible). But even when there is no hurry they will ..
Let us see an example of what I am talking about. It is something every one knows about and yet would like not to think about. Its called traffic and its one huge phenomenon in India. Traffic in India is probably like no other. Its a unique mix of humans and cattle. The occasional dog spices up the scenery further. But its not the traffic that peeves me often. Its the way its managed. And the central theme of traffic management(or mis-management) is zero-accountability. It starts with the police. They think its their birthright to break the red-light. We can understand if they are on a hot chase (unlikely but still possible). But even when there is no hurry they will ..
- drive on the wrong side of the road
- break the red-lights
- approach a traffic island in the wrong direction
- drive over the speed limit
- stop in the middle of the road and yap on the radio
The next abomination on the road is the government licensed public transport buses. The drivers of these buses are one of a kind. The few pre-conditions for being a bus driver are …
- you should like to drive faster than a sports vehicle
- you should be able to drive in the middle of the road and leave enough space on both sides for the two-wheelers
- you should break as many red-lights as you can
- you should have at the least, run over one person
- you should have gone to jail and be out on bail most of the time
- you should have a license which has either expired or has been issued in a far-off village
- you should smoke “bidi”
- you should be able to take a sharp turn without turning on the blinker
- you should like to play “chicken” with other big buses
- you should have no qualms about stopping in the middle of the road to pick up the next abomination on this list.
Well as you might have guessed already the, the next abomination is the pedestrian. Of all the things that causes our traffic to be so unmanageable the pedestrians have to be the most unmanaged and most unaccountable. If you are a pedestrian you have certain rights in India. Here are a few important ones …
- you can walk anywhere on the road
- while you are waiting for a bus you can eagerly occupy all the road
- if you get hit by anything while you are doing the above the law will ask the “culprit” to pay up
- you can sleep on the road if you are poor (in fact being poor gives you the license of doing almost anything on the road)
- you can hold your hand up boldly at approaching cars so that they will stop, while you gallantly cross the highway
- you can cross traffic intersections diagonally at rush hour traffic
- you can speak on the mobile phone while doing the above
- you can plead the buses to stop for you anywhere you wish to
- you can jump of a moving bus (in the middle lane) onto the bonnet of the car on the left
- you can hurl an abuse at the car after you have finished doing the above
Those were just a few of the things you can do as a pedestrian. For the full list you can observe the “next” guy. You can do whatever he does. Infact depending on what you do, the next category of idiots on the road will follow suit. This category is populated by rickshaws, autorickshaws and “thelas”. This is the bad ass category. They like to live life “their way”. The laws are for the educated fools. They revel in their illiteracy. I would like to think – they celebrate it. They will do all the things attributed to the other categories. And more. They will make your life a living hell and shout at you while the alcohol vapors emanate from their bellies.
In between all this is you. And you will wish you weren’t there in the first place. Some times you see cops flagging someone down for speeding. Or breaking a light maybe. But they are not serious. They are just trying to “make up” the daily quota of fines. The same cops will turn a blind eye at other times to the same crimes. They are the human equivalent of chameleons. Changing color everyday … maybe every minute.
And now some questions for all of us “Indians”. Why don’t we have the right to question a cop when he breaks the law ? Why cant a pedestrian be held accountable for his crimes ? Do we really care about how its going to look like on the road a few years from now ? Can you predict the escalation of lawlessness that his about to take place ?
Sometimes they catch a rich fool for driving over some bum on the road. It might be his fault ( and in a drunk-an-crazy place like Delhi its highly probable). But do we examine everyones fault. Do we check if the traffic light was working. Do we check if the pedestrian was walking on the middle of the road. Do we understand that everyone has a right – and not just the underdog.
Given the trend we will soon have a deluge of vehicles on the road. And sadly the people sitting and making the “future plans” are the bottom of the pile students who joined the civil services for the lack of any other job (not all but well, mostly …) . And we … well we don’t really care. Even if we did … we are afflicted by a paralyzing fear. The fear of the powerful politician. The fear of the corrupt police. The fear of stepping outside the “status quo”. As a country we symbolize that word. We like things as they are – forever. But it will not be this way always , unfortunately … it will only get worse.
In between all this is you. And you will wish you weren’t there in the first place. Some times you see cops flagging someone down for speeding. Or breaking a light maybe. But they are not serious. They are just trying to “make up” the daily quota of fines. The same cops will turn a blind eye at other times to the same crimes. They are the human equivalent of chameleons. Changing color everyday … maybe every minute.
And now some questions for all of us “Indians”. Why don’t we have the right to question a cop when he breaks the law ? Why cant a pedestrian be held accountable for his crimes ? Do we really care about how its going to look like on the road a few years from now ? Can you predict the escalation of lawlessness that his about to take place ?
Sometimes they catch a rich fool for driving over some bum on the road. It might be his fault ( and in a drunk-an-crazy place like Delhi its highly probable). But do we examine everyones fault. Do we check if the traffic light was working. Do we check if the pedestrian was walking on the middle of the road. Do we understand that everyone has a right – and not just the underdog.
Given the trend we will soon have a deluge of vehicles on the road. And sadly the people sitting and making the “future plans” are the bottom of the pile students who joined the civil services for the lack of any other job (not all but well, mostly …) . And we … well we don’t really care. Even if we did … we are afflicted by a paralyzing fear. The fear of the powerful politician. The fear of the corrupt police. The fear of stepping outside the “status quo”. As a country we symbolize that word. We like things as they are – forever. But it will not be this way always , unfortunately … it will only get worse.
