Hassled by Traffic & Their Guardians!

Every commuter yes the same citizen of India (Consumer is king???) has a daily dose of hassle commuting from East Bangalore - the silicon hub of Bangalore a.k.a Whitefield side to South Bangalore. Adding to the irritation is the honking noise, the dust pollution from the construction debris. If it is the English / British tradition to never let a conversation end without referring to the weather, we @ Bangalore never end a day without quoting the great trouble that we face in the form of traffic jams.

Trapped like a bee

Last two day's the traffic jam's have behaved decently but not their guardians, the nice trendy guys with their blackberries and ever itching fingers to print out a ticket for some violation or the other. These guardians wear the color of peace - white neat uniforms but are hellbent upon creating violence by booking each one they meet under some section or the other. Yes the world is competitive and they have their monthly targets as well!!

Case 1 - Friday
Every commuter knows Bellandur, Agara, SILKBOARD (minimum 15 - 30 minutes) have regular bottlenecks so what does one do?? drive at a decent speed where ever the road is free and where one can drive freely, basically this is common sense. I followed the same logic and was driving at a decent speed on the outer ring road near the More - Mega store, EMC2 office, suddenly I was flagged off the road by an army of traffic cops say about 6 - 8 cops, I went for about 300 metres (though I was so far away didn't have the smallest temptation of running away due to the respect for cops), stopped, parked my bike and got of. A nice young junior cop came and spoke to me in crisp English and asked me why I was cruising at a place where the speed limit was 50 KMs. I asked out of sheer surprise 50 KMs / hr in a 6 lane road with two service roads which makes it almost an 8 lane road. He said yes sir this is a BBMP blah blah blah, I went to the senior person and asked him boss this is unfair etc. etc.. but I am sensible enough to understand a 'stupid' rule has been broken and I cough up RS 300 and get the receipt.

Pros
1) Not once was corruption evident with the young police force.
2) Professional equipment to print the ticket and receipt system.

Cons + questions from few fellow commuters
1) Another commuter who was held up asked the cop "What are you doing in such vacant roads when we really need your clearly over sized team in places where we suffer everyday from traffic jams" - He got no reply - sad!
2) Another commuter asked - "What is your target for today, and what is your monthly target?" - The answer was a blank and fallen face - very sad!
3) My question is - "When you fine us for over speeding, CAN WE FINE YOU & YOUR DEPT FOR under-speeding caused every day in many long stretches? Our average speed would be a mere 0 - 10 kms/hr.
4) Need to have some limits.. one guy was 5 KM over the limit and was fined, anyone heard of something called common sense??


Case 2 - Saturday
Was happily house hunting in Whitefield. Near the hope farm circle (while coming from ITPL), wanted to take the 'U' turn. Apparently there is a board there says no 'U' turn allowed. I turned my indicator to turn and stood there, there were many cops there again beaming their blackberries proudly. [Lets remember that if I wanted to break a rule, I wouldn't dare to do it in front of cops, thats common sense] This junior cop, a slightly aged gentleman from the other side calls me to come, I was wondering why? At this point I was only standing in the intersection and had not violated any rule in the rule book, he calls me so I gently move to the other side and he says you have violated the U turn rule. I completely lost my cool and now lost all my respect for these cops. If he was genuine he would have told me there is no U turn - (i.e) when I was standing at the intersection wondering where I need to go. He called me to the other side, made me violate a rule and fined me. I got off my vehicle went to the senior cop and explained that I am from South Bangalore and not familiar with the routes in this part of town and that the other cop made me violate the rule by calling rather ordering me to cross the road. I spoke in what ever Kannada I knew and filled the gaps with Tamil, Hindi and English. I explained my issue, he was hellbent upon typing in his new blackberry, I started losing my cool, people around the place noticed how these guys were cheating me. I told them in a clear loud voice that they were cheating me and committing something very wrong. But I guess it was equivalent to the effect of rain falling on a fat buffalo. He printed a slip, I paid the fine, threw the sheet down in disgust and walked away clearly ashamed of the apathy that these guys exhibit. As I start my vehicle I can hear him speaking in the local language saying "The next time you meet policemen, talk less" YES RIGHT, next time I will fold my hands, greet you with a namastey, serve some snacks and juice and then stay bowed and speak to you, cause you have the so called "powers". The cop's name is "Rajanna" near Hope Farm Circle. If you haven't guessed I was fuming at the end of all this and made it very clear to the senior guy that I wasn't amused or happy by the whole experience.

Pros
1) NONE what so ever

Cons + questions from few fellow commuters
1) Stupidity
2) Lack of common sense
3) Misuse of power
4) Cheating
5) Can't speak or understand English
6) Not to help or educate the common man / citizen

Anyways at the end I do agree there are tons of awesome cops who make our life simply great, hats off to you guys and a big thank you.

m.m

Is there a correlation?

Don't know if this is the effect of reading "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything". It is a 2005 non-fiction book by University of Chicago economist Steven Levitt and New York Times journalist Stephen J. Dubner.

Case 1 - I have noticed this general scenario in India which includes me as well - Save more, Spend less - Save more for a happy future even if it means being Frugal now. The quote 'Save for a Rainy Day' is so commonly used in most of the households.

Case 2 - I have noticed many friends & other people (am guilty as well) - while eating a good meal we keep our favorite dish say fried chicken or a sweet dish for eating it at the end of the meal, we finish all the relatively ordinary dishes and then leisurely eat the relatively superior or tastier or favored dish.

Are case 1 & case 2 related? Do they have any vague correlation?

If I were to become the rogue economist and get into the shoes of Levitt or Dubner, I would say the following.

Analysis of Case 1 - yes the mindset in few countries are heavily biased over saving and not spending, it means you forgo certain pleasures of life at the peak of your health & early age and keep saving up for the future when you might not be able to utilize it to the maximum possible fun & happiness.

Analysis of Case 2 - yes the mindset in few countries are heavily biased over saving your best assets and not wasting / spending / using it rashly (or fast) [almost works on a principle of conservative rationing], it means you forgo tasting the best dish when you were really hungry (& could eat more) and keeping it for later times thinking you can enjoy it leisurely but the reality is by then your stomach is quite full and you end up just stuffing yourself and not relishing it.

Now do you get the correlation? There is a strong invisible mindset within most of us which influences most of our actions. Conclusion: The two cases have been proved to have a link.


"I always feel sorry for people who think more about a rainy day ahead than sunshine today." - Rae Foley

m.m