An ode to our roads & drivers

THE government has been actively taking steps to make traffic law enforcement more stringent so that unruly drivers ‘fall in lane’. From CCTV cameras on key stretches to speed radars and speed alerts inside newer vehicles, the Indian driver has been put on notice. This has obviously come as a big blow to our ‘civilisation’ as highways are to modern India what the Indus river was to our Harappan-age ancestors.

The efforts by the authorities to strictly enforce traffic rules are laudable — or so I thought until my son returned one Sunday, rather annoyed and upset. Upon enquiring about the reason, I learnt that he had just been fined by the traffic police for speeding on a stretch close to our residence in New Delhi. Speeding, he told me, meant going over the specified speed limit for that particular stretch, which — as the traffic cop had informed him — had been set at 50 km per hour. Fifty, he repeated: a speed that even autorickshaw drivers found difficult to remain under when in the highest gear.

“You see, dad,” he exclaimed, “the Indian system is brilliant: first they lay down laws that no reasonable person can ever conform to, and then they negotiate the fine with you for ‘mutual benefit’.” He added that the cops had smartly chosen the only stretch of road where a motorist could possibly cruise above 50 km per hour in the first place, and then decided to do this on a Sunday, when traffic was sparse and motorists could actually enjoy their rides on the otherwise busy city roads.

The following day, my son and I were travelling in a car. While waiting for the traffic light to turn green, a couple of cows wandered idly across the intersection, ignoring the ‘stop’ signal. Then they made themselves comfortable right in the middle of the busy road junction.

As soon as the signal turned green, there was a mad rush as vehicles scrambled to nose ahead to lay claim to every inch of the free road. There was a screeching sound and then a thud as a motorbike slammed into the bovines. Luckily, the rider was not hurt, as evidenced by the bored looks on the faces of the traffic police personnel standing nearby.

As the rider dusted himself off, cursed his luck and picked up his mangled motorbike, I couldn’t help but wonder if the Indian driver deserved a respite from the roadblocks that he faced at every twist and turn of roads across the country.

Musings