Traffic as a Metaphor

Traffic, everyday road traffic to be precise, is an excellent metaphor for all that is wrong with us as a people and with many of our institutions including the government and its agencies.

Violation of and contempt for all laws has become a way of life in India. Riding/driving through a red signal, entering a road which carries a ‘No entry’ sign, riding/driving on the wrong side (to cut short a long, law-abiding ride) and on footpaths – the list is endless. In a country that follows ‘Keep left’ as the traffic policy, we see many including police vehicles doing exactly the opposite – ‘Keep right’. And this happens throughout the country and even on arterial roads. Even on the Mumbai-Pune expressway, this is a common sight. It doesn’t matter what vehicle you are driving, whether an auto rickshaw or a high-end car, everyone is guilty of this everyday violation. We used to boast, with justification, that Mumbai was a different city but here too this has become common, even on Marine Drive and Colaba Causeway, not just in the suburban areas where it has crossed all limits.

It doesn’t strike anyone that what they are doing is wrong. Once, when I stopped a two-wheeler rider from riding on the wrong side, his response was very revealing – ‘Don’t take tension. This is normal’. That certainly is true – it is normal. Well, not so much ‘it is normal’ but that ‘it has become normal’. Of late, there is an unwanted addition to this bag of misdemeanors – the continuous honking by two-wheelers. The Prime Minister keeps talking of ‘Swachha Bharat’, which should also be ‘Shanth Bharat’. This lumpen behaviour goes on every day, unmindful of the location, time and the environment – be it near a school, hospital.

The problem is not that such things happen but that they happen right under the police’ nose and they do nothing about it. The sight of a two-wheeler riding on the wrong side in front of a police van is so common. In fact, two wheelers ride on the footpath just outside the Colaba police station and no one does anything, as if this is the most common thing in the world. The traffic police seem to be unaware of a basic point – if you didn’t respect yourself, no one else will. It is this complete lack of self-respect that is shocking.

Even while we accept that Indians, as a people, have become not just indifferent but completely heartless, the traffic police has to bear the blame for this. They have allowed this violation to reach such levels that it now demands serious, sustained action to usher in law-abiding behavior. And it is possible, as the Mumbai police demonstrated through their drive against drunk driving. Or the way they manage traffic on the day of Anant visarjan. It is just a matter of enforcement of existing laws.

All violations and transgressions have consequences usually for others but sometimes for the perpetrators too. In the case of traffic, people could die or get seriously hurt. When politicians in power or otherwise do it, they are able to make money. So do businessmen, bureaucrats, people working in government agencies or even in the private sector. A violation is a violation – what is the difference?

Takeaways

Contempt for law a way of life in India

Violations and transgressions know no boundaries

Some violations and transgressions are financially profitable