Traffic Woes in Chennai

The recent mowing down of three innocent young college girls by a water tank lorry in Chennai city has prompted me to write this article.

The statistics recently revealed an unbelievable disparity. Fifty lakh vehicles in Chennai and only 2700 odd policemen to control them. Now calculate the ratio of vehicles to policemen. Shocking isn’t it?

By what figment of imagination can controls be enforced in such a ratio? It saddens me to see the state of affairs on the roads. Blatant violations of traffic rules are a sickening sight for the law-abiding citizen. Helmets were made compulsory as per the High Court order a few months back, that too is not enforced and followed by two-wheeler riders.

The greatest violation in my personal opinion is jumping the red light. This is a serious matter and can lead to dire consequences, but no one cares and those observing the signals are harassed by continuous honking of horns.

In reality there are no laws adhered to, and it is survival of the fittest and craftiest on the roads of Chennai.

It is no surprise then that daily people are losing their lives, some for no fault of theirs. Lackadaisical attitude is still prevalent amongst the authorities as we don’t see any progressive measures being introduced, and absolutely no counselling or cautionary notices given, especially to youngsters who ride bikes like the road belongs to them, and weave through traffic without concern for their life or of others. Riding and driving on the wrong side of the road too is a menace and regularly done by two and three wheelers. I could name numerous such violations committed daily by road users.

Another serious issue is availability of road usage for vehicles. Almost 50% percent of the road is occupied by street hawkers, illegal and haphazard parking and if road works are in progress, then dumping of materials on the road. All this not only slows down traffic but causes impatience amongst drivers leading to road rage and accidents.

The fact that chills my bones is that we have laws for everything, but no one to enforce and this makes it easier for the violators to get away scot-free. There is a ‘don’t care’ attitude prevailing amongst drivers without fear of repercussions. I am fearful that no solution seems to be in sight nor are the authorities making any sincere efforts to control the situation. At this rate we may have such dismal scenario, where travelling on the road will not only be a nightmare but a death trap too. We are slowly and steadily heading towards pandemonium.

It is apparent that the police force is desperately short-handed and over- whelmed too with the number of vehicles on the road. They need to strengthen the force to enforce laws. Easier said than done, budgetary constraints will be quoted and moves to reinforce will be scuttled.

This is when a ‘Citizen Force’ should be created which is purely voluntary. They will be there to make up the manpower shortfall existing in the present set-up.

Leading public sector companies should be roped in to bear the cost of identifying and training citizens, who after successful completion of a short training program are empowered to penalize errant drivers and enforce laws strictly. Disrespecting the ‘Citizen Force’ too should constitute as a punishable offence.

A massive marketing campaign to be launched in which road users are severely warned to follow traffic laws or face serious consequences. At this point I would invite leading cine stars to make appeals via print and digital media to advise and caution people to follow traffic laws.

A strict criteria should be followed in recruiting the ‘Citizen Force’ and only people who commit to spending a specific number of hours per week should be allowed to join.

It is my belief that a large number of citizens will volunteer to lend a helping hand to address this situation. After all we all love our Chennai.

Driving should not only be a pleasure but safe too and Chennai can achieve that goal, albeit with a little help from the concerned authorities and the general public.

Are we still Human?

I was watching the news channel during the recent Cauvery water agitation, and there was wide coverage of the after-effects of the Supreme Court ruling.

Burning trucks, buses, vandalism and physical abuse of individuals was being beamed and it was a sorry state of affairs. Life had come to a standstill and the general public was subject to a sense of fear and uncertainty in Bengaluru city. Violence was spilling over to other parts too. Even Chennai city witnessed vandalism inflicted on businesses being run by Kannadigas and as per reports the same was being repeated in Bengaluru too against Tamil business establishments.

What struck me was the statement by the news anchor of the conflict between the Kannadigas and the Tamilians, she was repeatedly emphasizing on these two communities.
It was at this moment the story of the group of pigeons came to my mind, which I had recently read on Facebook.

Apparently a group of pigeons had to keep shifting their residence from a church to a mosque and a temple, as each time some renovation work was being undertaken prior to a festival and this caused them disturbance. Finally they housed themselves on the top of a monument and as they were perched proudly above, one of the baby pigeons noticed a communal riot going on below. Out of curiosity and concern, the baby enquired from the mother about the disturbance. The mother shook her head sadly and replied.

'They are human beings, but change their identity when it suits them, people who pray in the church are known as Christians, the people who pray in the mosques are known as Muslims and the temple worshippers are Hindus'.

'But why don't they just call themselves human beings? Because when we were in each of those places it didn't change who we were, we remained pigeons, so should it be in their case too.'
'Very true my child, the difference is that we have experienced God and live in an elevated place peacefully. They are yet to feel the presence of God and therefore indulge in meaningless violence'.

I have absolutely no idea as to the origin of this story, but it has a powerful message. Where has our humanity disappeared? At the drop of a hat we divide ourselves into caste and regions, forgetting the human values we possess or tend to ignore, allowing our selfishness and parochial mindset to take over our actions. We allow individuals with vested interests to dictate terms and disrupt our life.

Do we need pigeons to tell us what we have actually become?

A Divorce Invitation!

   

I was reading the morning newspaper when my wife peeped over the top trying to get my attention.

‘Do you remember the Jones?’

‘Nope, who are they?’

‘We attended their elder son’s wedding a few years ago, can’t you remember anything?’

‘Aah ok. What about them now?’

‘Their second son is getting married and we got an invitation. We must attend considering their disappointment with the elder son.’

‘Why, what happened?’

‘He got divorced?’

‘How come? I thought it was a love marriage.’

‘Well not only his, but two other weddings we attended the same year ended in divorce.’

I put down the newspaper, my mind whirring like a machine, ‘Why don’t they inform the same people who took the trouble of attending their wedding about their separation too. After all we prayed and wished them well, we should be informed that our prayers and wishes went unanswered.’

My wife gave me a withering look, ‘Now don’t come up with another so-called brilliant idea of yours.’

I watched her strut off, but my mind was now spinning like a top. We make such an effort to attend a wedding, spend money, sacrifice valuable time and when things don’t work out between the couple, we don’t even get a ‘Sorry’ card.

Every couple who separates within five years should follow a certain etiquette. For the last time they should again walk down the aisle together, lawyers from both sides to be present and in the presence of all, they should sign the divorce papers, return the gifts they received and walk away separately, marking the end of their marriage as well as announcing to the world about their single status.

Of course returning the gifts is a little far-fetched, but a sorry to each guest about things not working out should be mandatory. And of course both should foot the cost of the ‘Divorce Invitation.’

And how do we benefit? Oh we get a free meal this time without paying anything for it! Yeahhhhhhh!

I wonder how many couples would have the courage to do this. Usually a divorce is a painful and stressful experience, and can result in couples going through depression or even contemplating suicide.

Why not treat this concept as a strategy to give courage and moral support to the separated couple with a touch of humour, which could also ensure that divorced couples actually don’t end up hating each other.

It makes little sense for couples who had vowed to love each other for eternity, to suddenly end up as enemies for a lifetime.

Food for Thought!