Rights you have....and Responsibilities too...

                                                                                                     - Odette Katrak, Gurgaon

If I had a magic wand to wave, I would definitely use it to transform the chaos on Gurgaon’s roads. What better example of the collapse of our democracy, where people who have rights as well as responsibilities, conveniently choose to forget the latter - resulting in traffic jams and mayhem.

We all want order and courtesy back on the roads. Everyone is complaining. Unfortunately, I have no magic wand but instead a burning desire to do my bit, however little. So i signed up as a traffic volunteer - one step better than just complaining, which I have done my share of, and far better than turning the other way, which most people do, sadly even when their drivers break traffic rules.

Citizen volunteers, from my exhausting-yet-fulfilling personal experience can have a huge impact in creating awareness that the responsibility for smoother traffic rests with each and every citizen. My first stint was at busy Iffco chowk. My brief was simple: 1) get people to stop at the red light 2) and to stop before the zebra crossing 3) prevent those ‘smart’ overtakers on the extreme right who dash through on the wrong side of the road. Every two hour stint is a real eye-opener. I meet bus drivers, tempo-drivers, cab-drivers, auto-drivers who don’t care that the light is red but keep going, or shamelessly drive on the wrong side. Not surprising at all. But the shocking statistic is that for every fifty who blatantly break the rules, over thirty are educated men/women in air-conditioned cars, wearing designer clothes, sunglasses, imported colognes, including some name-droppers declaring they are ‘retired senior government servants’! What an irony that the very segment which could make a difference by their example and be catalysts in a system crying out for change, instead choose to stoop to the lowest common denominator of rude behaviour on roads!

The fact that they are educated is why I think there is hope. I interact with no less than 50 offenders over every two hour stint. Instead of berating them, I smilingly remind them that if educated people show scant respect for discipline, there is no hope. Most nod apologetically in agreement. I remind them of their responsibilities on the road. I make them promise they will never break a traffic rule again. I tell them, again smilingly, their penalty is to get at least fifty others committed to following every traffic rule. I remind them that I am just a concerned citizen who believes that if we all strictly follow rules and spread the word among our circle, there is hope that things can change for the better – and my toil, sweat and inhaling the polluted air in temperatures above 40º would not have been in vain. I even went as far as joking with one man that if he ever broke a rule again, my face would haunt him. I got a smile and a wave from that particular offender as the light turned green and he drove past. I have no doubt that he will keep his promise and hopefully more than a few others. Because they are educated, they do realise that their compliance is critical. It can most definitely reverse the downward spiral into which Gurgaon’s traffic is descending, where the educated stoop to the level of uneducated drivers. I have myself progressed from just traffic duty, to in addition training other volunteers from schools, colleges, offices as well as coordinating awareness drives – each a very fulfilling activity in itself, for it has helped spread the fever of good road manners. Every extra hand on deck in this crusade is desperately needed.

You too can be a part of this change by committing to follow every traffic rule, even if those around you do not, and influencing drivers, family, friends to scrupulously follow traffic rules. We belong to that group that can actually make a difference. How nice it would be to have courtesy and discipline back on our roads. Where everyone understands the concept of a right of way and follows rules, where traffic flows smoothly and tempers flare rarely. If we are to ever get there, I must ask an urgent question first: can you make a positive difference on Gurgaon’s roads? Indeed, you most certainly can. The bigger question is: Will you?

                                                                                

(Odette is a soft-skills trainer and social change activist)