Archive for May, 2007

Body Count

Tuesday, May 15th, 2007
Another fatal road accident, another life lost. Does it matter if the person was a beggar or a very large industrialist? Driver error. Life goes on with a shrug. But do we care enough to act before it is too late? Next time, god forbid, it could be you. Even if you are driving mostly safely what is there to guarantee that the guy in the oncoming bus is not going to raze over you?
Point I want to make is that body count really starts with violation of minor rule and this become a habit (a.k.a. Indian jugaad??) and when this goes unchecked there are bound to be consequences that the society has to face. I do not have statistics of how many accidents take place in India or the rate of such accidents per day or per kilometer of road length per month. All that is just a figure. What I am more concerned is total lawlessness that prevails on the roads.
Driving on the wrong side, jumping red lights, overtaking from wrong side, driving without rear lights at night, keeping head lights at high beam, not giving way to oncoming traffice till the last moments….the list is endless. You see it all happen every single day on the road. The cost of such bad driving habits is bound to be enormous. Lives lost or even worst lives maimed. People becoming handicapped or totally incapacitated. We see it but we do not register any surprise. There is no remedy.
In the meanwhile body count goes on and on.

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Second to none

Tuesday, May 1st, 2007

Course of my work took me to a lower division court house today and for those who have not been to courts in India it is an experience. Add to that a lower division court in India !!! Teeming with humanity, is what some would call it but it was a slow day today, only a couple of thousands jostling for space to get their work done.
I came across a person who was distributing “Prasad” (Blessed sweets) to all he came across. He would dig out a handful from his big “jhola” (handbag) and with a smile pass on small portions to all with a beaming and content face. Who was he? Where did he come from? Why he was doing this? What did he do for living? I do not know but I admit that I could see his contentment in doing just what he was doing and getting pleasure form the simple act.
I admired his self confidence and approach to life – at least for that brief period – offering Prasad, without any apparent motive, to all without thought of any discrimination or priority. Life like that can be lived only when you are strong within.

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