(Road) Sense and Sensibility

I have always wondered on the lack of road discipline and manners in India. Across the board, wherever you go it is the same. People not respecting the right of way of others (it seems the bigger you are the right of way you have is greater) and honking are the most obvious cases. In many cases the honking starts as soon as the signal turns to green, sometimes it is to just to indicate intent (to overtake) and on many occasions just for the heck of it : as if to announce one’s presence on the road. (Mind you this is not the best way to say Hi !) And at night, the worst bit is the lack of manners in dipping the headlights when there is an on-coming vehicle. Rather, when there is a vehicle approaching from the opposite side, people tend to change over from dim to bright!

It is one thing to blame the lack of roads, the state of the existing roads and the traffic. But then in many others countries, the traffic is equally bad if not worse. Also, by honking/not respecting the right of way / by going for the ‘bright’ headlights, one does not tend to get to the destination faster / safer.

What brought this to mind was a recent trip I made in a bus in the English countryside (travelling from an offsite conference back to the hotel) – the roads were winding, very dark (not lit by street lights) and to top it all off – narrow and wet. The bus driver dimmed the lights whenever he saw the hint of light from the opposite side. It was a smooth ride in spite of us travelling in a largish vehicle on a narrow, unlit, winding wet road.

We excel in absorbing the bad bits of western culture while we ought to learn from their better practices like in this case.

One aspect of improving the situation is the policing bit –make fines prohibitively high and perform more effective policing. Even assuming this is performed efficiently (which itself is a very difficult proposition) it is only half the battle won. The other bigger battle is that as a society we need to change our mindset to road manners. All the communication campaigns and road safety weeks have only made minimal impact.

How we can resolve the bigger issue is something that I cannot prescribe now. Ideas anyone?

Proved right

It always feels good to be proved right!

My last entry a couple of weeks back was regarding Sreesanth’s selection to the Indian team and the response from the public. There I predicted that there would be a change of heart on the part of the naysayers if Sreesanth got a 5 wicket haul. That is exactly what the bloke has gone and done in his very first comeback test!! Well, well, well…. I can’t resist saying ‘I told you so’!!

I am glad that Sree has grabbed the opportunity as predicted in my last blog entry. Well done and way to go !

Do I hear you say ‘Iyer the great’?

Controversial selection

The Indian team for the home series against Sri Lanka was announced yesterday. The surprise selection was that of the recall of Sreesanth. What has prompted me to write this piece is the response to this news – especially on the internet. Within hours of the announcement of the team, people have been generous in dishing out their views – mostly slamming the selection. While the forums are buzzing with (personal) views for and against Sreesanth, what is horrendous is the way some news sites have reported the news. Rediff for instance reported it in a very negative way - ‘shocking move’, ‘disruptive pacer’ were the words used in the news item.

First let us look at the selection itself on pure cricketing terms – retaining the right arm quicks in the current squad was not an option - they have not exactly covered themselves with glory in the series against Australia.. Though Sreesanth had an average Ranji outing on a bowler unfriendly track at Thalassery last week, he did reasonable well in county cricket earlier this summer. Why not pick the one proven genuine right arm swing bowler in the country?

Secondly on the attitude aspect – Most of his critics do not doubt his talent, they doubt his mental make up. While it is true that Sree has had a forgettable past, he has been cooling his heels in the shade for quite some time now. In my view, this should be time enough - for someone who has tasted success at the international level and been deprived of it - to learn from the past.

Maybe Sreesanth got a second (or third?) chance because others (Ishanth & Munaf) did not perform but I think this time he should grab the opportunity with both hands. Being in the company of a senior like Zaheer would do him good. The Lankans will be trying to provoke him during the series, hope he keeps his cool and focuses on the job at hand.

Suppose Sreesanth gets a 5 wicket haul in one of the tests, the same people who are out to crucify him now will be singing praises!! What is being described as 'tantrum' now would be described as 'spirit' then.

Road to hell

I did quite a bit of driving around Trivandrum this weekend. The condition of the roads in the capital city seems to be deteriorating with time. Whatever be the reason (electricity, cabling, KWA, Japan water project etc….), work seems to be going on at a snails pace and even when the work is completed, the road is left in a bad condition.

The only chaps who probably are happy with all this would be the manufactures of 4 wheel drive vehicles – for it looks like soon we all would need these kinds of vehicles to navigate around Trivandrum! This might sound like a pathetic attempt at humour but I am half serious - is anyone there anybody out there (listening that is)?

How guys view kids!!

Just a point to ponder – the generalisation below is from my observation of friends and acquaintances.

1) When a chap is single and chances upon a toddler, he hardly glances at the kid. In many cases he will find the little fellow repulsive.

2) Once the chap gets married and has kids (the first said not being a pre condition for the latter), he starts ogling over the new born and feels his kid is the most beautiful thing in creation - and starts appreciating other toddlers also

Case in point – one of my dear friends. He firmly believed that all kids looked alike when they were new born. In fact he thought they all looked like monkeys! Now he is a daddy and hopefully has revised his views. At least I know for certain that he has done so with regard to his child!!!

Krishna’s house

This anecdote is from a couple of years back. My daughter was 18 months old then. We were passing by Pattom and she started praying loudly ..”Kitcha Kithca”. We looked out and could not find the temple she was alluding to. When we asked her – she pointed out to “Krishna’s house” (temple)– it turned out that she had been saying her prayers out loud looking at Pattom post office – which is a good piece of traditional architecture !!