madhouse musings!

I have driven in various cities in the world. I love to drive. But, what I have not been able to figure out is the ‘typical’ Bangalore trait. That of people inching forward to ‘win some unheard of race’ on the road. That of bikers zipping in gaps between two cars, creating confusion, yet undeterred…zipping away.

I seek answers to some questions… answers anybody?

Do people who drive or ride on the streets of Bangalore really understand lanes?
Are people sensitive about that fact that there are hundred other bikes or cars along with them and they are not alone?
Is it their impatience? Is it insecurity? Is it a game?
When you are on the streets, driving or riding, do you apply you mind to think or do you just drive/ride?

I for one, think for the others on the road. Save several lives by avoiding accidents that they would have been responsible for. I tend to loose patience, but i have trained myself to smile at the senseless behavior of people on the streets, what with stopping the auto rickshaw in the middle of the road to have a conversation…or deciding to take a U turn on a crowded street, from extreme left onto the extreme left of the other lane! Sigh!

What’s on your mind when you drive?

Mumbai, the city that never sleeps; the financial capital of India; the one place that, I have heard from times immemorial, let’s people be and live life the way they want…the city of dreams – that do come true.

Alas! What Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), Raj Thackeray and his men have done today in Mumbai is for me a shame. What with the MNS and its goonda’s getting on road and beating up people who were ‘outsiders’ (really wonder how many of these goonda’s were true breed Maharashtrians). Images where MNS were slapping people who were in transit, merchants who were apparently of Bihar and UP origin, taxis which were driven by non Maharashtrians – did anyone stop to notice that it has a MH registration? How could these loyalists beat up Maharashtra registration boards? Hey, Raj Thackeray – is that ok?

As I watched this piece of news, I was flooded with mixed emotions of grief and anger. Grief towards people who fall prey and indulge in activities such as these, grief towards ‘rape’ of democracy and the beauty of integrity in diversity which our nation stands for. Anger towards politicians who choose topics such as these, as their agenda to win elections. Anger towards people like me who elect politicians and give them authority to influence the governance.

Who gives one right to assault another? Who gives a politician and his party workers authority to vandalize and behave like criminals? Are we who have witnessed this crime, supporters of this crime against Human Rights? Is this the price a nation pays once in a while to maintain its integrity and diversity? Are these issues of caste, creed, origin and city really sensitive issues or are they ‘politically sensitive’ issues?

I am as much a part of the crime as Raj Thackeray, as you or that guy who belongs to MNS or that guy who got hit by the MNS. We fuel the terriorist/criminal instincts of people such as Raj Thackeray instead of helping them tune their energies and intelligence towards positive outcomes. I am ashamed of my electoral right, of my diversity which makes us forget our integrity for a while. Was it not the ‘outsiders’ who stood with the ‘insiders’ in the past, the past that was not so long ago, such as the blasts, the floods, the riots and many more such?

What do you have to say Raj?