Vote and everything will (NOT) be alright!

On my way back to Bristol I had an interesting experience at the Ahmedabad Domestic Airport. The Jet Airways flight meant to take us to Mumbai was delayed. Two elderly gentlemen (though in hindsight, it seems incorrect to call them gentlemen) were amongst the people riled up because of the delay. They started talking about how the systems in our country were bad. One was of the opinion that the whole political system was bad and that sourced all problems. The other one who seemingly was a political party member or activist opined that the former had no idea about how learned the politicians were. He went on to point out that people like “us” (meaning the crowd waiting to board the aircraft) were the least concerned about changing stuff and enjoyed complaining. He challenged everyone there to go do something small. Like for starters to go and vote. If “we” understood the problems so clearly, why did we shy away from voting when the time came to vote?

The other man continued to abuse the various politicians in Maharashtra for discriminating while allotting MHADA housing plots, in cricket and what not. This discussion, which was comical so far, took a more serious turn when the guy finally picked a specific politician to abuse. I suspect that politician belonged to the same party as the second guy. This was when he changed his relatively dignified yet vexed speech to one that overflowed with expletives and threats. A la filmi-sytle he went on to challenged the guy to dare and step out of the Mumbai airport and walk away alive having faced his men. (Maa ka doodh piya hai to bahar nikal kar dikha, kaat dunka tujhe udhar or something similar) The fight was eventually broken up at the behest of the crowd and the attention turned towards the Jet Airways representative whom they roughed up for the delay.

Only I was left with a disturbing question. In the so many years of my education, I was always told that democracy is *sic* the best kind of governance. It puts the power into the hands of the people and people alone can decide the fate of the nation. And all they have to do to achieve this is to vote. It was the magic mantra, “Vote and everything will be alright” If the people mentioned above were the populace and the governance, then there was something wrong with my core belief. I felt compelled to question it. Let me be frank. I’ve voted a couple of times. Most of the other times, I’ve been elsewhere at the time of elections. Does this mean I have denied myself the opportunity to push the gears of democracy into motion? Actually the answer is no. The constituency I belong to is the home ground of the erstwhile Leader of Opposition. Irrespective of my vote, he is bound to win. And the opponent parties field a weak candidate with no credentials whatsoever to stand against him in the election. As I vote, I am not choosing the fate of the nation; I am only making the practical choice of putting a more sensible candidate up to represent me.

With this aimed at no particular political party, my question still stays. Why does India, the world’s largest democracy become the best example why democracy is a bad idea? To date, if we were to ask each political party to weed out anyone and everyone who has ever been accused of criminal activities, the party ranks would thin out faster than trees in an autumn gale. How many times has the news of scams involving mind boggling sums of money come forth only to whimper back into the oblivion of past and the judicial back-offices? How many times we have gotten into deals with outsiders, that clearly compromise the interests of our nation and yet the people meant to protect our interests only do the contrary? What makes our foreign affairs minister so long winded in his speech that he reads from a document while the counterpart from across the border responds to media in a flamboyant and off-the-cuff way still managing to score victory anyway? Why does someone from across the border get away with calling the US Secretary of State a blathering idiot while we pander to a CEO whose company was responsible for thousands of deaths in Bhopal?

The answer to this came from a child, whom I met years ago. The child had a kite with the picture of a political bigwig on it. The child was so convinced that just the picture of the person was enough to make the kite take to the skies. And despite it being torn beyond repair, he kept on trying to make it fly. If there ever was a more poignant metaphor to our nation’s situation, it has escaped me. The picture on the kite is today’s political system, unsympathetic to its people, clueless to world affairs, blinded to its own agenda and benefits, lusting for power and unfortunately with a choke-hold called faith over most of the ignorant populace. The child in the picture is the populace in general. Some of it, like some part of the child’s brain, knows this isn’t going to work. And then the rest oblivious to everything else, hoping the magic to work and help achieve the goal of making the kite fly. And in that personal interest to see the kite fly, the child forgets that he is damaging it beyond repair. Needless to say, the kite is our nation. And this is where the saddest truth about democracy lies.

Unfortunately this solves nothing. It only lays to rest my illusion and brings me to a bleak realization:
“Vote and everything will *NOT* be alright”

The Indian Traffic Jungle

A recent Facebook post by a friend triggered a long repressed desire to write something about this. The entry goes somewhat like this:

Traffic cop (TC): (Stops the friend who is driving a car)
Friend: What happened?
TC: Broke a red light. License and registration please.
Friend: (Hands over documents)
TC: Don’t have PUC (Pollution Under Control certificate). Pay the minimum fine
Friend: Can’t we make an arrangement? (hands a fraction of the minimum fine, off record)
TC: (accepts and lets friend go)

Unbelievably this post garnered a lot of “Likes”. So what makes Indians tick in this retrograde fashion? Why are these same individuals excellent model citizens when in a foreign land and the exact opposite when back in the homeland? That is a research question and the answer to it might be simple. Indians (a lot of them) and most humans are jerks. This is exactly why we invented the concept of society, law and order.

Then there was a prior incident in Ahmedabad, my home city, and the city which doesn’t know how to spell the word ‘traffic’. I was waiting for the signal to turn green at a crossroad, next to me a pair of gals on a Honda Activa and further to the left a pair of muscle bound morons on a CBZ. The moment there was a clear spot on the junction, the morons zoomed off, without regard for personal or public safety, right in the face of the traffic cop. The only response that the traffic cop could give was to shake his baton at the duo and utter a few expletives. Since the duo’s attempt was clearly an aimed at impressing the gals, I looked at them. To my horror, the very next moment these gals took off too. And unless I had gone colorblind or insane, the signal was still a bright red. These people were younger than me. I wondered. If this is the Generation Next, the future of India is bleak. So how do we train the Ahmedabadis (and Indians in general) and introduce the concept of ‘defensive driving’ and ‘traffic sense’ to them in a binding way?

I guess, that would require the rewrite of a gazillion antiquated laws and the twisting of the will of a million office-bearers. But here are ten things that I think will make the people take a moment to think and understand the true meaning of the word ‘Behave’. I like to call it my Policy of ‘Zero Tolerance’

Traffic police system: Clearly this has gone to the dogs. Manpower and will-power lacking, clearly this is not the dream industry which many wish to enter. So the first changes need to happen there:

1. Accepting bribe is tantamount to treason: The duty has to be respected in all its sanctity. Random sneak checks to find if on-duty cops take bribes and let off offenders. These people should be thrown out of the department dishonorably discharged and dismissed without pension + a monetary fine equaling the bribe amount while caught multiplied by the number of days the person ever worked.

2. Dress sharp and dress fit: The high-speed chases seen on ‘Cops’ etc always show cops who can really take down an offender and do it with panache. If you can’t run 100m in less than 20s, desk job with an early retirement is what you get.

3. Well heeled and wheeled: The fastest cars should be the cop cars. And so should be the bikes. Walkies, networked information, traffic cameras. Make technology the newest weapon in the cops’ arsenal.

4. Young blood, willing blood: Psych evaluations on the individuals joining the force. Find the ones who are willing to do things not because it is a job, but because it is a service to the nation.

5. Fast track but fair justice: With the technology working in conjunction, convictions should be faster and harsher. Ensure the first change however is active at all points in the system.

The 'real criminals' people: That said and done, the next question is what to do with the people who are actually spoiled rotten by the handicapped system. Clearly these are not victims of the system but rather the offenders who also deserve no mercy.

1. Giving bribes is also tantamount to treason: Anyone offering a bribe to any officer also has to be given the royal treatment. The fine should be a hundred thousand times the bribe amount offered and accompanied by a minimum of 5 years in prison.

2. Proud father no more: I’ve seen parents teaching their underage children to drive and show it off to others as a matter of pride. Book these people under reckless endangerment and confiscate their vehicles. If and when child services kick in, the kid gets taken away too.

3. Helmets ARE part of standard equipment: The last time someone actually tried to make these mandatory, the Ahmedabadis turned it into a joke. If a guy is caught without one, he is made to buy one on the spot. If you have a medical reason not to wear it, same medical reason say you cannot drive too. Seat-belts are to be treated similarly

4. Tire-killers: We enforce red-lights at all costs: Equip road junctions with automated tire-killers. These beauties will shred the tires of the moron who tries to jump the red light. If that is not lesson enough, the cop will take over.

5. Driving is a privilege not a right: This is the most poignant line in the DMV Manual that the Americans have to obligatorily read. Enforce this. Offenders should end up paying fines, spending jail time and losing their modes of transport.

Draconian as these may seem, if implemented to the ‘T’, Ahmedabadis will eventually learn. But truth be told, at times all it takes is just one person to change. Like the one who stops at a red-light not because there is a traffic cop at the other end, but because it is the legally and morally correct thing to do. Or be the cop who says no to the bribe and makes you pay the actual fine. So all I ask my fellow Indians who might chance upon this blog:

Can you be that person?