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Criminal character

<I may have written about this earlier>

 

As I drove to office today, like any other day, there were hordes of people on the road breaking traffic rules. Overtaking from the left, changing lanes without indicators, disobeying traffic signals…all of it. This irritates me the most (well second most, if you count ‘scratching nails on a blackboard’).

Why is that we need policing all the time to obey a set of simple rules? Why aren’t we civilized enough for this simple thing? Breaking all rules may take me to office in 25 minutes instead of the usual 30 minutes. But it increases chaos on the road manifold. It also increases the chances of an accident. And I am not even counting the stress it causes. We Indians being the wisest in the world, why have we failed to apply this simple logic?

Though I see this situation to be a lot better in Goa, it is not certainly ideal. People there have a lot more civic sense. Not out of education, mind it. It’s just the way people are brought up – not to harm others, bully them is something inherent in a Goan. Notably, on the back cover of my Driving License (Issued in Goa) is written the sentence ‘ A RIGHT NOT,  A PRIVILEGE DRIVING IS’.  This is the essence of the road transport policing in Goa.

It’s said, ‘Character is what you do when no one is looking’. For lack of policing, we will all break traffic rules. Or who knows, maybe also steal, rape or murder. Does that make all of us a criminal character?

 

Comments

Clueso said…
I sometimes wonder if this is because India had severe supply constraints on just about everything for a large part of its history as a country. That could have instilled in people the need to be ultra selfish and try and squeeze every tiny advantage for themselves without caring two hoots about the common good.
Supply constraints are now being eroded but the people who are adults today are still grounded in the old behaviour. The real test would be whether today's children behave differently when they grow up.

I guess secondly, it also depends on expectations. It takes significantly more character to not do wrong when everyone else is. Not everyone can I guess, though they should.
2:23 pm
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