Are We Literate Enough?

Forget that, I want to ask a few questions to our transport minister Mr Nitin Gadkari, who I bet won’t know half the things I ask him. Because he is driven or flow around the country and despite being the Minister of Road Transport and Highways, seems to have no clue how bad the situation on Indian roads is. If I give out questions here, his boffins would answer them on his behalf, which would be cheating me and the people who might be interested in knowing the answer. I would like to ask him these question on national television, live TV. Then his reactions would be worth watching. But Gadkari is just one weak link in the chain, the on-ground traffic law enforcement is highly incapable of handling traffic situations. A classic example is traffic jams. I have observed that when the traffic lights are operational, the situation is not bad at all. Because people wait at a red light, although everyone inches closer to the centre of the junction as the countdown reaches 20 seconds which is unsafe, however, the queue is not a mile long. But when some idiot thinks that he can manage the traffic more appropriately by turning the lights off, then all hell breaks loose. People get confused and in that confusion they confuse this already confused constable who thought he could man the signal better, but clearly he is incapable of doing so. The situation in villages and small towns is bad despite less number of vehicles on road but what about our cities. Our cities are filled with cars and bikes most of which are driven/ ridden by the educated bunch who work in corporate offices and firms and drive/ ride to work every day. Such individuals are expected to be aware of the traffic laws and many of us assume that they will follow them. But after a few incidents in recent times, I have come to the conclusion that these are the least considerate people on the road. They may have gotten degrees that fetch them fat salaries and perks like a company car however, when it comes to road ethics they are worse than a monkey commanding a space vessel. We might be able to afford the fanciest of motorcycles and cars on planet earth but honestly, when it comes to riding and driving we are still living in the stone ages where anything goes as long as you fight your way through it. Again, there is a very simple solution to all of this, common sense and a will to change your riding and driving style and following ethics to became a safe driver/ rider who will live longer. Educating kids about road ethics is also one of the things that we seriously need to take up because a person would feel truly insulted when his/ her kid teaches them how to behave on the road. That would be slap on the face of pathetic road users who think they can ride and drive any way they want and then get away with it. Until next time, Ride Hard and use your bloody white brain matter to ensure you don’t add yourself to the list of pathetic road users who are truly the losers!