Monsoon in Mumbai

I promise I will place some good monsoon pics soon on my blog ! The problem is that the monsoon so far has been quite erratic, and the camera never seems to be available handy when the rains do strike !!

So far, the monsoon has played truant - couple of heavy showers over the past 4 weeks is all what Mumbai got. That’s not good news - monsoon determines India’s agricultural output, no less ! It also largely determines the water supply and power situation in Maharashtra State, India’s most industrialised and largest state, hosting its financial capital.

It rained heavily on 1st July morning, and that heavy downpour brought the city to a halt. Metro trains could not function, and I was shocked to witness the one-foot deep water on the Western Expressway, of all places. Below the expressway, where the low-lying areas abound, it was a total mess, giving lie to the Municipal Corporation’s boasts that they were ready for this year’s monsoon. People can only get scared thinking of what would have happened to Mumbai if the rains continued non-stop, as they normally do in July. Just recall what happened in 2005 and even in 2006. The city is hardly prepared even now, given all the learnings from the past experiences. And, we are talking about one single city of India - the financial, commercial and entertainment capital of India - which pays over 40% of India’s taxes.

But, to save the Municipal Corporation and the State Government from charges of negligence and apathy, the rain god decided to further delay the rains. It has showered on and off after 1st July, nothing that could hamper even the pedestrians ! That monsoon behaviour is no good either. If the pattern continues like this for the next couple of weeks, I guess Mumbai would have water supply problem, combined with partial power cuts. At the end of the day, this only proves one thing - good governance and efficient urban management is elusive even in the best of the countries around, but in India it is a scarce commodity. It is a precious skillset lacking absolutely all around India, which incidentally is in a state of political paralysis with the Communist Party threatening to withdraw support to the ruling UPA Government at the Centre.

But the beauty of Mumbai is that its people just do not bother - I was again amazed just looking at the people on the streets - sometime quite well dressed - moving about in heavy rains as though things are pretty normal. I could not even hear raised voices cursing anyone for the state of affairs. Mumbai folks are practical and have learnt to fend for themselves, they know for sure it is no use depending on the undependable and unreliable !

Life goes on, stock market is on the mend, people appear to be positive in their outlook, so it is business as usual in the business capital of the country !

Have a wonderful weekend, and don’t miss the Wimbledon !!

Cheers,

Vijay Srinivasan
4th July 2008
Mumbai

The Only Heaven on Earth !

Courtesy : PN, a Colleague

An American decided to write a book about famous churches around the World.

So he bought a plane ticket and took a trip to China .

On his first day he was inside a church taking photographs when he noticed a golden telephone mounted on the wall with a sign that read ‘$10,000 per call’.

The American, intrigued, asked a priest who was strolling by what the telephone was used for.

The priest replied that it was a direct line to heaven and that for $10,000 you could talk to God.

The American thanked the priest and went along his way.

Next stop was in Japan. There, at a very large cathedral, he saw the same golden telephone with the same sign under it. He wondered if this was the same kind of telephone he saw in China and asked a nun passing by what its purpose was.

She told him that it was a direct line to heaven and that for $10,000 he could talk to God.

‘O.K., thank you,’ said the American.

He then travelled to Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Russia, Germany and France .

In every church he saw the same golden telephone with the same ‘$10,000 Per call’ sign under it.

The American then decided to travel up to India to check out if Indians had the same phone in their churches.

He arrived in India , and again, in the first church he entered, there was the same golden telephone, but this time the sign under it read ‘One Rupee per call.’

The American was surprised so he asked the priest about the sign.

“Father, I’ve traveled all over world and I’ve seen this same golden Telephone in many churches. I’m told that it is a direct line to Heaven, but the price was $10,000 per call. Why is it so cheap here ?”

Readers, it is your turn…………..

Think …..before you scroll down…………..

Who knows, you may get this right after all……………

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The priest smiled and answered, “You’re in India now son, It’s a Local Call”.

“This is the only heaven on Earth”.

Courtesy : PN, a Colleague

Well, one may differ with this, but the presence of God is there to be seen and felt in all Indian roads. Especially during this time of the year.

Have a good weekend,

Cheers

Vijay Srinivasan
14th June 2008
Mumbai

Subsidy Compulsions

Last week, the inflation reached 8.1% in India.

At this rate, your money in the bank earns a negative rate of interest after taxes. With oil prices spiralling beyond USD 130 and no end in sight for the food crisis, the situation has become very challenging for a government which has to balance a myriad of interests in the run up to the elections next year.

Oil products are highly subsidised in India for the consumer. It is going to be 2 years since the government last raised pump prices. It is a politically explosive issue, with the Communists pushing for maintenance of prices and more subsidies to the government oil marketing companies which are incurring huge losses. These losses work out to approximately Rs 2,800 crores (USD 700M or SGD 1B) per day. Yes, per day, given that oil constitutes the biggest import of India. The government and political parties are fully aware of the implications - they are well educated on the matter. However, when elections are looming, no one wants to take a risk. Inflation was a major factor for the Congress’ loss at the Karnataka polls recently, where the opposition BJP won the elections, almost a majority in what is known to be a strong Congress State.

Similarly, food could become a critical issue for the government. While there are no protests yet on the streets, the rice prices are rising along with vegetable and pulse prices. There is no clear indication of how a steep rise in prices would be managed by the government, when supplies could become a constraint. India has a food surplus, so things may not deteriorate that badly. However, one cannot discount the fact that shelf prices have already started to affect the urban population which constitutes an important, if not decisive component of any election in India.

There is the free market way of doing things - the very “Western” and “IMF” prescription of just go and match world market prices. But, as we saw in several cases around the world, especially in Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand, the IMF ways do not work on the ground. In populous countries like Indonesia, India, and China, apart from political compulsions, there is the matter of poverty and the ability to pay. One out of every 3 Indians subsists below or at the poverty level in India, which is roughly USD 1 to 2 per day. Food and Kerosene are very critical elements of their consumption, and if the government’s free-market approach determines the prices of these goods, the subsistence of over 300 million Indians would be at serious stake. Just think about it.

One can argue about the wastage in the Public Distribution System in India, the lack of efficiency in the Agricultural Infrastructure and Irrigation Systems, the poor condition of the transportation systems leading to high consumption of oil, etc., However, the fact remains that it would take several years with a concerted plan of action to improve all these things - quite a medium-term effect in the best of times, when a democracy has to grapple with coalition politics.

Poor people would need protection from rising prices faster, hence there is no better way than to subsidise oil and food prices. It is not that only India has to implement subsidies - in the U.S. who has not heard about “food bills” ? While like most “free-market” theorists, I am inclined to adopt market-friendly approaches to almost everything in life, it is difficult and impossible not to be able to forecast the deprivations of the poor people in the society. To do so, in a very “capitalistic” way, would distance oneself from the ground realities, and isolate the economics and make it irrelevant.

Well, this does not mean that the government of the day can’t do more to correct the price imbalances. There is a lot which can be done, and which are not being done in India. One is ofcourse, to reduce the dependence on oil by going the whole hog on Nuclear Power - I have written about this topic in the past. The share of nuclear power in India is miniscule, it should reach atleast 15 to 20% of total power generated in the next 10 to 15 years. And, that is possible only if the subject of power is delinked from petty politics. America has come with open arms to help India, having realised the challenges India faces in the matter of power. But, so far, India has not closed the deal and moved on into a new chapter - this is a matter of serious concern.

Government needs to also look at (a) increasing the pump prices of petrol/diesel, while keeping the kerosene price stable ; (b) impose a cess on automobile purchases ; (c) implement car pooling atleast in the metros ; (d) impose severe penalty on oil and food hoarders ; (e) drastically reduce the customs and excise duties on petroleum products ; (f) immediately investigate the leakages in the public distribution system ; and, (g) engage in a public communication exercise to advocate the criticality of reducing oil consumption.

Food has to be subsidised for the poor, there is no question about it, atleast for the next 6 months. All crises pass away eventually, so one could only hope that this crisis would also do so, and do so quickly. In the meantime, it is better to relook at socialist economics, for a change, after some 15 years !

Have a great weekend,

Cheers,

Vijay Srinivasan
31 May 2008
Mumabi

Handling Terrorism in India

This month saw the terror attacks in Jaipur, the much visited city of India, also known as the “Pink City”. It is the capital of Rajasthan State. The intent of the attack seems to be focused on scaring off the foreign tourists who throng this part of India. But now just after 10 days of the attack, things seemed to have returned to normal.

However, the normalcy is misleading. In the last decade or so, there have been close to around 50 terrorist attacks on Indian soil, and everytime, things appear to have been forgotten. Hundreds of people have died, but the impact is simply forgotten. This state of affairs is just deplorable.

How can a proud nation like India tolerate such indignities on its soil, hurting its very fabric of civil society ? And, how can it move on, without taking corrective actions which sting current and future terrorists and their plans ?

The argument that India is resilient, and moves on without much effect whatsoever, is just hogwash.

Further, it does give citizens a feeling of helplessness to counter any untoward attacks in future - they eventually give up on Government. This should not be the case. Citizens should demand action, and get the Government of the day to act decisively and vigourously.

That happened in the United States post 9/11. This is a case study of an assertive and determined Government (I would not like to comment on the party itself !), which went about in a methodical fashion to (a) formulate a decisive response plan for thwarting future terror attacks on American soil ; (b) communicate to its Citizens that there would be curbs on their personal liberties which they have cherished over the years, to defend the nation as a whole.

The Department of Homeland Security was established as a result.

The result is there for all to see - there has not been a single known attack on U.S. soil after 9/11. If that is not proof of the work done by the Government, what else is ? Governments need to protect their citizens. Period.

But the political wranglings and appeasement techniques used in India have only resulted in a series of terror attacks over the years. There is apparently no coordination between central and state intelligence agencies. There is no vigourous Governmental response to terror attacks. In a nutshell, the Indian response to such attacks can only be termed as “feeble”.

Coming from Singapore, where there is a very high degree of coordination amongst Government agencies, this is indeed shocking. One can dismiss Singapore as too small to be compared with a vast nation like India. What about the United States, which is roughly 2.5 times the size of India in terms of land area ?

I am also shocked with the apparent nonchalance of the educated people around. They do not seem to mind as long as they get to enjoy the day - I mean, TODAY ! Such an indifference, and short-sightedness, would not help the Government. Politics looms large in a democracy like India, wherein the immediate compulsions are to satisfy or forecast the desires of the electorate.

This is just unfortunate, and does not give confidence that a solid foundation is being laid on the ground to fight the terrorists. They will gain confidence instead to launch new attacks on a weak state. That would lead to more losses of innocent lives, which is despicable. Government cannot do anything about the loss of lives.

Look at United States, Israel, and Singapore. See how they manage and handle terrorism. I am sure that there are many attacks which are not consummated due to the planned responses of the intelligence agencies of such determined countries. That means lots of lives are getting saved on a continuous basis, even without the knowledge of the common man on the street ! Isn’t that the way to go forward in India as well ?

India should formulate a plan very quickly, and set up the equivalent of Homeland Security Dept with powers which are nationally applicable. No questions asked. The results only should matter. The sooner this is done, better it is for all Indian Citizens.

Let us hope the Honourable Dr Manmohan Singh’s Government sees the rationale (I am sure it does) in establishing a coordinated national response system to completely and totally thwart any kind of terrorist attacks on Indian soil. I am sure that India can do this quite well, and rather quickly, if the political compulsions are laid to rest. Forever. For the safety of Indians.

Have a wonderful and peaceful weekend,

Cheers,

Vijay Srinivasan
24h May 2008
Mumbai

Rice’s Rice

I am sure that the readers are following the debate around the rising food prices and inflation. Rice has become a global discussion point around any table talk, including the United Nations. The matter of rice scarcity and prices has even warranted a special cover story in the Time magazine (”Asia’s Rice Crisis”, issue dated 21 April 2008).

While I am not an economist or a political scientist, it is intriguing to note how politicians and governments, apart from aid agencies and the United Nations, handle the matter under inflationary pressures. Media is no less a culprit, sensationalizing the headlines with unintentional taglines attributed to heads of state.

Stating that due to economic advancement, Indians and Chinese are demanding better nutrition and more food, is the ultimate hogwash one would have heard ! This is notwithstanding the fact that India is a net exporter of rice !! And, to just assume that so far Indians and Chinese have not been eating rice in enough quantities, and the sudden increase in rice prices is due to their urgent demand for more rice, or even better quality rice, is simply ludicrous and does not reflect intelligent analysis of the situation.

No wonder politicians of all ilk are jumping up and down at the United States, and the unfortunate, though largely unintentional statements made by the Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice, and President George W Bush. But, politics is just politics - not much meat, or rice in it !

One has to scan the horizons towards the east to figure out what is going on really.

Rice prices are going up not because India imposed export taxes on Basmati rice, but more because South East Asian countries, led by Thailand, are entering into a cartel to rake in the benefits of higher demand, much like what OPEC has been doing with increasing oil prices. It is not the right thing to do, but there are few exporters of rice in the world, and Thailand is the biggest of them all. It could set the prices in the market.

Since there is no evidence of rising rice (average median-quality rice) prices in the Indian market, the Government of India could help the world by increasing rice exports without any undue taxes. Rice is the staple food of three-fourths of the world population, and the matter should necessitate an urgent get-together of the world’s rice-consuming countries to demand equitable pricing till the crisis is over. Alternative use of arable land for bio-fuels need to be relooked at. There are many reasons why food prices are rising, and it would not be right for the developed nations to get into fist fights with developing countries on what they perceive to be increased consumption - which anyway, is none of anyone’s business, to start with.

Time to meet, put the intelligent unemotional heads together, and thrash out an amicable solution for the benefit of the masses.

Cheers

Vijay Srinivasan
4th May 2008
Mumbai

Poverty in Megalopolis

Poverty reduction is like a mirage in India.

Especially, in cities with large population of migrants, it becomes very hard to consciously focus on poverty reduction programs, since these migrants were not planned for initially.

All major cities in India have had influx of migrants from the relatively poorer regions of the country. Mumbai, I guess, has had the maximum share of migrants from all over the country, being the centre of major economic activities. Mumbai is a melting pot of migrants, surely for the well-endowed ones as well. Due to the heavy concentration of financial institutions and large corporate headquarters in the City, it is to be expected anyway.

Economic migrants of the poorer variety ofcourse, dominate in terms of numbers. Given the strain on the land in Mumbai and the cost of real estate as a consequence, there is hardly any alternative for the poorer migrants to live, except on the roads ! Such a scenario can be seen in most places in Mumbai as one drives around, especially in the suburbs. The slums encroaching upon the Airport Authority’s land in Santacruz is stark evidence of the impact of the migration on Mumbai.

The other day I saw that police had removed the hutments of poor people living across the road from Hypercity, diagonally opposite to it. There was a clean pavement, though it was just above the dirty nulla, or stream of water with harmful effluents. I thought, Wow, these folks had the nerve to carry out such an operation !

Today, the migrants were back at exactly the same place, with all their belongings intact !!

I can only think of a failure of governance in terms of providing affordable low-cost housing to these migrants, who are necessary for the economic activities going on all around - construction, factory work, home support work, and a million other activities required to sustain the fast-growing economy - someone is needed for work which could not be done by the existing folks who are engaged at a higher level of economic engagement in society.

In a developed country, this situation partially exists, such as in America with migrant Mexican workers. In Singapore with its almost full employment, the economic imperative is different - work cannot be done by current population, and so import of talent of all kinds is required, planned and executed well by the government.

However, in India, the migration largely occurs within the country (though there are other country imports which are not checked at the borders with Bangladesh or Nepal, for example). Several states have a poorer quality of living, and a very low GDP per capita. People are unemployed, or are not able to find productive work which pays well. Their dream is, what else, “Mumbai” ! Or, “New Delhi”.

In a democratic country, it becomes difficult to stop such migration officially. In China, the government can, and does, stop migration into cities like Shanghai, at will. Brute power sometimes help. But, that would not be possible in most countries.

So, it comes finally to the government of the day to solve the problem of reducing the strain on land, transportation, food, et al, when large population of migrants needs to be catered to. The economy and society needs their services as well. A real Hobson’s Choice, I guess.

We all need to think through potential solutions for this major problem of the day.

Cheers, and Have a Good Weekend,

Vijay Srinivasan
26 April 2008
Mumbai

Value of Human Life

I never properly understood the valuation of human life in developing countries.

Human Life appeared to be cheap in the under-developed countries of the world in the past, and that included most countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Now, several such countries are in the process of attaining an “emerging” or “developing” status, which in my mind really means a GDP Growth Rate faster than 6% as a ballpark, and a per-capita income approaching USD1,000 or more atleast in the more populous countries. However, this does not, by any chance, mean that the “Human Development Index” in these “developing” countries is improving in tandem.

Apart from the well-documented economic disparity between the haves and have-nots which is worsening in a very skewed manner as the emerging economies develop faster, the resulting rush to Western Consumption patterns amongst the younger generation is leading to behavioural tendencies with utter disregard to human life. Youngsters in developing countries such as India today wish to emulate their American counterparts closely, right from dress sense to soap operas to food habits. This also includes a “holier-than-thou” attitude in the economically stronger sub-section of the society, which while numerically smaller, has a big concentration in small pockets across urban societies with influence disproportionately higher than it should be, even on the poorer sub-sections of the same societies.

Such concentration leads to a wealth “show-off” effect, with people able to afford fast bikes and cars. In a large metropolis like Mumbai, there are many affluent pockets of society, as there are slums. The complete nonchalance exhibited by the wealthier sections of youngsters towards the human habitation in public places by the very poor migrants is totally reprehensible. Many murders have happened in the streets over the past year and a half, due to the total negligence of young and fast drivers (who sometimes do not even have driving licences) who lost control due to their recklessness or drunkenness. While Mumbai Police Authorities have taken up a vigorous drive to control drunken driving, the issue in India is still the same - one of enforcement in a consistent and uniform manner. Lack of automated means to track reckless driving and a rapid response system to nab criminal drivers continue to inhibit effective enforcement.

In a nutshell, human life has not much meaning in developing countries like India - it can be dispensed with conveniently to satisfy the ravages of the economically advanced sections of the society many a time, or it can be “bought”. The lack of success of “socialism” is evident over four decades of lacklustre growth in India - it means “poverty distribution” rather than “poverty reduction”. The understanding of the importance of human life and human development is totally lacking at all planning levels of the government. This can be seen from the lack of serious investment in Education and Infrastructure. India probably needs atleast 5% of its annual budget to be spent on primary and secondary education, rather than constantly celebrating higher education successes and placement stories wherein management students walk away with US$ 100,000 salaries. How can 1,500 successfully placed management students impact a developing society like India’s ? How can probably 10,000 highly qualified engineers solve the problems of development in India - I am just counting the top institutes’ output here.

India (and China) continue to get poor scores in the U.N. Human Development Index as well as Corruption Index. There is very little investment in the human “software” aspect, as compared to the “hardware” infrastructure focus that governments currently are pursuing in the developing world. But the whole point will be missed if we ultimately reach an economic status, wherein there is : (a) wide disparity in the economic status across multiple strata of society - it now looks like 1% of the society is approaching a per capita income of USD 10,000 (my own estimate), while more than 80% of the society has a per capita income less than USD 500. Such skew is not helpful as the economy progresses at a rapid 9% clip over the next decade or so ; (b) there continues to be a lack of “connect” between the two extreme ends of the society, with many a youngster in the poorer sections of the society getting lost out for lack of equitable opportunities in education and jobs ; and, (c) there continues to be utter lack of focus on primary education and its infrastructure, especially in villages - there are many in the remote districts of Maharashtra wherein there are no teachers even, let alone a proper building.

We have to consciously attempt to enhance the valuation of human life on par with how a developed Western Society currently does - there is always a huge concern even at the loss of a single life in such developed societies. Why is there no such concern exhibited by the powers that be, which most of the times, tend to write off such losses easily - be that may be due to a railway accident, due to negligent and reckless driving over pavement dwellers, due to caste rivalries, etc., There are a million examples which can be gleaned from news stories around India every day. How come on one side there is a rash adoption of everything Western, while there is just no look at the best of the West - the human value being just one of the many good things in the Western Civilization ? Why should we just pick the bad things without more analysis ?

And China is no different from India - for folks who are overwhelmed by the China Story, here is an article from New York Times - over a quarter of the Chinese population is poor, despite the great strides made by China over the last three decades in uplifting its people. Please read “Lives of Grinding Poverty, Untouched by China’s Boom by Howard W. French”

Some food for thought, I guess.

Have a great, long weekend, folks.

Cheers

Vijay Srinivasan
12th Jan 2008
Mumbai

Update on “Movie Psyche”

I missed including this URL in my original post below ; this is essentially about Bollywood taking over Hollywood. Was I surprised seeing this article in Times of India website ? No, not at all.

It reads as follows : “Hollywood bets big on Bollywood”

Well here it comes, or here it goes to Beverly Hills. Hollywood is going to be besieged by the Salman Khans of Bollywood very soon. Though the above article talks just about Sony Entertainment making movies in Bollywood, this is the real start I guess.

Have a wonderful week ahead, folks.

Cheers

Vijay Srinivasan
18 Nov 2007
Mumbai

Movie Psyche

I saw four movies during the long Diwali weekend.

Two were Diwali releases from Bollywood - “Saawariya” and “Om Shanti Om”. The other two were Hollywood classics - “Psycho” and “Blood Diamond”. While the Bollywood movies continued their legacy of wholesome people entertainment and escapism from realities of daily grind, the Hollywood movies truly stand the test of time. The Hindi Movies have traditionally assumed (for the most part, by most directors, exceptions of course exist) that the film-goers are complete fools looking just for pure entertainment of the unbelievable variety. We do come across such genre of movies in Hollywood as well, like the Bond Movies and many others about extra terrestrial creatures and aliens. But those are clearly targeted at the children and adolescent crowd, though the entire movie-going crowd might still be interested to see the “The Hulk”. The key differentiator in such movies is the scientific experimentation gone awry combined with a solid plot and amazing animation. However, there is no such things in Bollywood as Sci-Fi, the sole exception that I can recall is “Koi Mil Gaya” which I enjoyed viewing with my kids.

Both the latest releases score not even 3.5 stars. Saawariya is a gloomy film, I did not understand the flow of the movie at all for quite some time. It is a very loosely woven, content-free plot with no logic for the happenings ! A sheer waste of time, just managing to get 2 stars probably because of the new actor introductions and some innovative dance sequences. I should have avoided, and the family did not like the movie either. But then, it is a gamble to see any movie, right ? We wanted to leave the theatre a couple of times, but just stayed on to see what is the ending - always the case, isn’t it ?

OSO (or “Om Shanti Om”) was a better movie, though it believes in taking one for an idiot completely. It is reincarnation of the hero and the heroine, while the rest of the characters continue through the movie nonchalantly. The acting was better…….the scenes were better than Saawariya. Dance sequences were incredibly better. I noticed that other movie goers thoroughly enjoyed the collection of stars performing together at the reception of the new movie launch in OSO (yes it is movie inside a movie). I think the better rating of probably between 2.5 and 3 stars deserved by OSO is more for the above reasons rather than for Farah Khan’s directorial capabilities or the foolish story plot which nobody in his/her right sense would ever care to believe. And, there are hundreds of such movies in Bollywood and Kollywood (in the South) to merit hardly any attention.

Let us not forget why these folks keep making such movies. It is pure economics ofcourse. And, they do understand the demographics of India and its tastes very well. Given their touch with the masses, and the incredible pull of star actors, it is no wonder they can repeat their story plots infinite number of times, ad nauseum, to keep drawing the same crowds time and again.

But that is the famous Bollywood for us all ! I am not writing about Alfred Hitchcock’s movie here - I again got an eerie feeling - a real one at that, when I saw “Psycho” again. Remember the “Bates Motel” ? Well, that is a director par excellence who continues to engage and enthrall as well as shock audiences (sometimes the same audience, sometimes the new generation) around the world. And, he makes you think, anticipate, and shake with fear !

I pray that Hollywood should not be taken over by Bollywood one day.

Have a great weekend.

Cheers

Vijay Srinivasan
17 November 2007
Mumbai

Braindead Mumbai Drivers

Here we return to one of my favourite areas of human analysis - the character of drivers on the road.

I am sorry to be in a position to reiterate that drivers, whether they are hired or owners of the cars that they drive, are generally not worthy of owning a drivers’ licence in the first place. This is especially true of Mumbai suburban drivers. The same drivers follow the rules, more or less, when they drive in South Mumbai, where the police do not tolerate (a) violation of traffic rules, especially beating the traffic signals ; (b) rash driving ; and (c) drunken driving. In the Western Suburbs of Mumbai, somehow none of this works - one rarely sees policemen anyway. The most dangerous thing that one observes while driving in the suburbs is that no driver seems to care much about traffic signals, or about beating the red lights. They are rarely caught by the police, and since the violators can easily escape through usual means, there is no disincentive not to repeat the offence.

I drove today, being a Sunday, to my Club and back home, along with my family. I observed total anarchy between Malad / Goregaon (West) and Andheri (West). There should have been traffic signals at many heavily trafficked intersections, but unfortunately the government does not bother to study these dangerous, life-threatening points and take necessary action to install traffic signals. The more serious problem is what I mentioned above, that people do not care if there are traffic lights or not. They rush past - don’t know why they have to speed. The added element is that the pedestrians cross the road at any point of their choosing - in fact, they seemed to be crossing all over the place. It is difficult to manage the car, when you suddenly see (a) the car in front of you has decided to make a right turn, when there are no such “official” right turns, and so suddenly switches on the right signal of the car - you have no choice but to bunch up behind, or like most people do, make a cautious “left escape”, making a series of vehicles to gasp for brakes ; (b) pedestrians crossing, and ladies with kids on them also choosing to cross because there is no choice left - and if you are on the rightmost lane, you see people on the right edge of the centre divider - I dread to imagine what would happen if a car grazes any one of these folks, which would cause a series of accidents on the road. What is amazing is that the pedestrians are totally nonchalant - they hardly care, and seem to be absolutely sure that no vehicle would be able to hit them. A very bad assumption, I would say, given the poor quality of the Indian drivers, especially the hired ones.

There is another dangerous element - owners pushing their hired drivers to “make it fast”. I always tell my driver to be careful and go slow, and even with this contrarian advise, my driver got into couple of minor accidents on the road. I can’t imagine why owners with families, etc., would take such a huge risk on the roads.

Another interesting observation - if you are coming to an intersection from a side road, you are the road king ! The main road’s traffic seem to be slowing a bit, to accommodate cars which insert their noses boldly into the main road’s traffic. I was wondering how I should manage this peculiar behaviour for the first more than six months of my stay in Mumbai, and finally decided there is no way to go if you have to make a right turn indeed. Even if you abide by your traffic sense, and make a left turn, hoping to get a “u-turn” somewhere down the road, it does not happen and even if it does happen, one needs to go through the same experience of “nose insertion” into the opposing traffic because the “right signal” is ignored by the oncoming traffic. Even a slight hesitation on your part to make a decision is enough encouragement for all the rest of the drivers to violate the traffic rules further.

ABSOLUTE LACK OF CHARACTER ! It does not matter whether these folks - especially the owner-drivers - work for a MNC, or an Indian Corporate, or a BPO, etc., The way they behave day in and day out is disgusting. The lack of police control and intervention by government’s urban planners is more revolting. I simply do not believe such people who do not care about other peoples’ lives, or for their own lives for that matter, and do not respect any of the rules of the game, can lead the world - they simply do not have the culture, or sense, to be examples to the world. There was this famous video of traffic at You Tube about Mumbai’s nonsensical traffice - I would love to lay my hands on that, still looking for it - which clearly depicts how the world is laughing at the madness in Indian roads.

Given that cars are getting cheaper and incomes are rising, and the fact that it is not that difficult to get a learner’s driving license, it is going to be madness magnified another potential 10X on Mumbai roads. I do not see the same madness in Delhi or Chennai, or even Pune for that matter. Drivers do respect traffic signals and peoples’ lives on the roads. Ofcourse, Delhi drivers may be ruder than Mumbai drivers, but they seem to be respecting road rules.

I am sorry to say this, but Mumbai Western Suburbian anarchy on the roads needs to be checked immediately, with (a) postings of traffic policemen at all intersections ; (b) installation of additional traffic signals based on a study of the traffic flow and pattern ; (c) ensure zebra crossings are respected for pedestrians to cross the roads safely without getting threatened by non-stop drivers ; (d) install additional zebra crossings wherever required ; (e) ensure that the drivers respect the “white line” at all traffic signals, so that they do not “bulge” at all points while waiting for the signal, and affecting the flow of traffic ; (f) imposition of on-the-spot penalty on drivers who violate established traffic rules ; (g) check on rash driving, ensure speed limits are imposed with radar devices ; (g) stop drunken driving totally. All this would require increase in budget, but Mumbai pays the maximum taxes in the country, right ? Sure the Finance Ministry can fund it. It is critical to save peoples’ lives on the roads from rash drivers.

Let’s try and get sense back into these braindead Mumbai drivers.

Cheers and Have a Great Stress-Free Driving,

Vijay Srinivasan
28 October 2007
Mumbai