Now, I hate to talk about this one. And there is nothing new that I am going to tell you. Nothing that you don't know of. BUT, being part of that traffic,driving in it, getting hit, getting your car scratched, being humiliated by traffic policeman, etc. and watching the indian traffic on Youtube are 2 very different things.
Watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIthEM6pDqw&feature=related
Doesn't this one look like a big group of bees whose hive has just been burnt??
It is nothing.
Traffic gets to your nerves. The noise, the no rule roads, the corrupt cops, the swirling bikers, the forever in hurry cabs, the lazy uncles, the men talking on their cell phones or even better-texting while driving, it is a pain. It has been 9 months since we R2I-ed but I still scream when some one comes extremely close to the car. They just don't care about your vehicle. Nor do they care about theirs.
Yesterday, while I was going to pick up A from school, we were standing at the red light on 80-ft. road. suddenly the bus standing next to us turned right. You got it right! on the red light, the bus turned right. and you know what happened simultaneously? the cop facing the traffic on our side, turned his back towards us!!! It was so very obvious. How can a cop on duty miss this?
We have been stopped by the policemen for violating the rules twice and we got away by paying Rs. 100 each time. Very easily. No begging, no sorries.
H has adjusted to everything so far, but traffic is something is is not able to adjust with.
It spoils the mooos. You are going to meet some friends for dinner at the new, upmarket restaurant and bam! some one just gave an scratch to your 2 months new Honda!
Another incident, H was travving with his friend and his family to another friend's house. 2 men on the bike tried to go past them and game a nice bump, scratch....basically nicely damagng one side of his santro. the bikers also fell. Now, it was one of those perpetual traffic jam situations and the bikers started fighting with our friend. Since the friend did not speak kannada, the bikers had an advantange in having the mob to their favor. One of the bikers tried to pull out the car key. It was all very heated up when suddenly our friend who was partly scared, partly, angry and surrounded by mob in a foreign town, bit the biker on his arm while trying to save his car keys. The biker started bleeding and it got even worse.
I do not know excatly how they got out of the situation but it was nasty.
So, the migratory birds, be prepared for the not so funny traffic in India and the cops who come along with the cars.
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the cop facing the traffic on our "side, turned his back towards us!!! It was so very obvious. How can a cop on duty miss this?
ReplyDeleteWe have been stopped by the policemen for violating the rules twice and we got away by paying Rs. 100 each time. Very easily. No begging, no sorries."
The cop knows the guy driving a city bus will not pay a bribe. He has the passengers on his side and the cop will be outnumbered unlike someone making the same mistake driving a private car. As long as educated, people do the same mistakes a common truck/bus drivers makes and get away paying bribes, the situation will not change. This blog is nothing but a way of venting your frustration at a problem you have been a part of.
If you really care to make a difference show some character and stop violating traffic rules and stop paying bribes even if it means having to wait a little longer for the red light to turn green.
"The cop knows the guy driving a city bus will not pay a bribe. He has the passengers on his side and the cop will be outnumbered unlike someone making the same mistake driving a private car."- so you mean to say the traffic police's decision to give ticket depends on the no. of people in a given vehicle? the traffic police should deploy a battalion to give ticket to a defaulting bus to match the nos. of passengers??
ReplyDeletealso, we are highly law abiding citizens and face fingering(the middle one) and some abuses also to follow the law from people on roads. but we got tickets twice for making a left turn on red light because some political party has pasted a poster on "no free left turn" board and the cops were utilizing this to the fullest instead of taking the poster off and penalizing the party for this. So we paid bribe for none of our mistake.
It is easier to preach sitting on other side of the border. India grows on you within 6 months my friend. Be a roman in rome and be a through indian in India.:)
Also, FYI, the buses and cab companies operate on a pre-paid bribe system. the companies have their people and systems in place to let the cops ignore their vehicles. I have noticed the same incident of ignoring defaulting vehicles with 100s of cabs also.
ReplyDeleteand if you are trying to tell me that the public is at wrong and the cops are the honest ones, then plz, welcome to india.
"so you mean to say the traffic police's decision to give ticket depends on the no. of people in a given vehicle? the traffic police should deploy a battalion to give ticket to a defaulting bus to match the nos. of passengers??"
ReplyDeleteNo that is not what I meant. For the cop, the trouble of stopping a bus and arguing with a bus load of people is not worth the hazzle, as he cannot get any bribe with too many witnesses around might even risk losing his job, whereas the person driving a car is a soft target. I am not justifying the cops action, however there is a reason for his ignoring the mistake of the bus driver and going after a car.
Regarding highly law abiding citizens - not sure I would agree (not that you care) that someone not standing up for their right and paying a bribe would qualify to call themselves law abiding.
If it was not your fault, you could have taken a firm stand and fought your case in the courts if need be. Yes it takes lot of guts and effort to do that. So almost everyone would rather pay a bribe and get away. That is what resident Indians do, that is want R2I indians do, then I do not understand the moral high ground taken by R2I people against their brethren back home.
Public is wrong, so are the cops, it is a matter of convenience for everyone. If someone can get away with a bribe, he/she will do that readily, if someone can pocket a few rupees easily, he will do it. This has been the case with India all along, living in the west has made us forget it. I am reminded of it every time I visit home. The only way to change it for people who have seen better systems to take a stand. Then hopefully one day we could see a better system in India.
The irony is that the ones that complain the most about the chaotic system in India are the ones who go with the flow.