Auto Haggling and Fleecing

Last few days, I have experienced the haggling that the common man is forced into doing with the auto rickshaw (the three-wheeled scooter rickshaw popular in India and few other countries such as Thailand) drivers in the city of Chennai. It has always been a problem in Chennai, even when the fare meters were working properly. The drivers will always ask for a top-up on top of the fare shown by the meter in the past. But now, the meters are all OFF – yes, no fare meter is working on any auto rickshaw vehicle in Chennai.

The situation is pretty bad (it looks very bad when compared to the situation in Mumbai where all auto rickshaws have working meters and the drivers rarely ever ask for a “top-up” of the metered fare), and the haggling is getting to the nerves of most hapless commuters that I saw in Chennai last week. There is really no choice but to haggle, the minimum fare has gone up to INR 40 (it was supposed to be somewhere in the region of INR 15 or 20 – not sure). Even for a few hundred metres, the auto drivers ask for the minimum fare, and anything beyond is anybody’s guess. Relentless push is required to bring down the highly unreasonable fares down to something close to a reasonable number which actually is far higher than what anyone would pay in other cities across India.

The problem is lack of enforcement and political patronage given to the auto drivers at the cost of the common commuter who is put into deep hardship. Fleecing of the common man is an everyday occurrence in Chennai with the auto drivers demanding big amount for not such a big distance.

Let me give some examples – for a distance of 1.5 KMs, the fare demanded was INR 120, later reduced to INR 70 which I flatly refused and walked away. Then after a couple of tries, I got an auto rickshaw which took me the distance for INR 40. For a distance of some 8 KMs, the fare demanded was INR 200, which I managed to reduce to INR 100 (probably because it was early in the morning and there was not much business, and the auto driver did not wish to turn away the first deal which would have been inauspicious for him as per usual belief in this part of the country). The key lesson is that if you are in a hurry and have to reach a place at a specific time, you could well be taken for a literal “ride” by unscrupulous drivers.

Mumbai is far, far better when it comes to such matters of public service – not in everything, but certainly the auto rickshaw drivers follow the fare rules, carry the fare card, and show the translation of the metered fare to actual fare via the fare card, pay back the balance amount due to the commuter instead of swallowing it like what they do in Chennai, et al.

Really sad situation in Chennai. With petrol prices having gone up, the auto drivers have found a new excuse for raising the fares again – notwithstanding the fact that most of them do not use petrol !

Enjoy the expensive rides in Chennai !!

Cheers,

Vijay Srinivasan

27th May 2012

Mumbai

Manori Adventure

The family decided to take a journey to the small strip of island called Manori off Mumbai with the primary purpose of checking out “Juice Adventures”, which is an adventure park located on Manori island.

The website of Juice Adventures was interesting and I had received an offer from someone couple of months ago to see the place. So, I was inclined to go. We called the place and the person who attended to us spoke very good English – I am always partial to any stranger conversing in good English and that too, a person in a remote corner of Mumbai who is expected to speak only in Marathi or Hindi.

So, the expectation was that this is kind of a well-known, cosmopolitan kind of place, serving the well-heeled folks from Mumbai.

I will come to that point soon. But before that, it is interesting to see how Mumbai manages its nice coastlines. We took a car ride of almost an hour for a distance of some 15 Kms, which is not unusual in Mumbai. Once we reached the Malad-Mudh Ferry point, there was confusion – the only respectable ferry ticket booth loudly proclaimed that they issue tickets only for the Essel World (which is a large amusement park), and when we asked them about Manori, they directed us to check with the ferry operator in another side of the beach.

The beach itself was dirty, jammed with taxis, auto-rickshaws, peddlers, tourists, hawkers, and what not……..the point was that there was no organized way in which the ferry terminal was established to serve any kind of customer who wanted to spend a day off. No body really cared, and there was no single agency monitoring the whole place and servicing the people. The place was crowded, noisy, and like any other tourist location in India was dominated by touts. I don’t see why such practices should continue in what is one of the best locations in India for a scenic ride in the sea.

In any case, we found our way to the ferry which takes all of 7 minutes to cross a narrow patch of sea for INR 14 per person (I thought we could even cross it on foot ! Ha Ha Ha !!). The ferry had no safety provisions, no lifeboats, no life jackets, and no guards. Does that sound unique or strange ? No, it doesn’t in India, unless you own your own yacht or speedboat.

The funny part is that the operator of the ferry loaded anyone who can pay – he even had several horses in the ferry and many motor bikes. It was India and its unique way of operation in all its essence. One cannot complain, just take the ride if you wish and pray that nothing untoward would happen.

So, there we landed at Manori. Juice Adventures was located within 3 minutes from the ferry terminal. There was a good reception for us, as we had made enquiries at the reception by calling beforehand. The person in-charge of the reception gave a good explanation of the facilities, and we were convinced it was worth the trouble of the car + ferry ride with all the attendant experiences.

My son enjoyed the rope exercises, the ATV ride, the Sumo fight, the archery, and especially the zorbing (which I thought was not like the one in NZ on the hills). We liked the place though it was not fully operational with all the games that were mentioned on the brochure. They opened only 3 months ago, and I think it would be better to wait for another 3 months before a visit which can derive full benefits from Juice Adventures.

The thing that I could not fail to notice is that there were no other visitors except us on a Saturday mid-morning, which was rather surprising. There is hardly any such adventure place in Mumbai, apart from the well-established Essel World which does not have some of the adventures featured here in Juice Adventures.

Overall, we enjoyed the place, but instead of the 5 to 6 hours we had allocated, the visit to Juice Adventures was over in about 2 hours. That is bad business given that we would not stay for lunch at their place !

Well, my suggestion would be to wait till about June and then make a visit to Juice Adventures.

Cheers,

Vijay Srinivasan
11th March 2012
Mumbai

The Moving Troubles

I moved my residence just about a distance of ten kilometres from where I was living for three years in Mumbai.

It turned out to be as much effort as moving to a different city.

My estimate was that it would be a quick and fast move, given the efficiency that one generally experiences in the island city.

But it did not turn out to be such a move.

I realized one thing – that if you give more information to the packers and movers, that actually backfires on the actual move !

Yes, it was amazing. I was very specific to the point of what item to be moved when, how it needs to be packed, how it needs to be verified while actually moving, how it should be unpacked, etc., – my wife actually did most of the planning though. But, I discovered that the packer did not actually understand what we were trying to do.

The mover did the move in exactly the same manner he would do for anyone, without actual detailed instructions written down and handed out before the move. No change whatsoever.

It affected the delivery of the service badly. Expectations were not met. Couple of things were broken. Key things were not handled appropriately. And, no excuse was given (or sought, for that matter).

At the end of the move, my wife and myself were exhausted – we had to continuously monitor the work and insist on quality delivery (which did not come forth).

I realized that we made a mistake – too much of briefing and too much of explanation beforehand are actually not a good thing – hardly anything was being taken seriously in any case. That demonstrated that I selected the wrong mover. I also knew the best mover, the only reason why I did not go for that mover was the issue of pricing which was three times costlier.

Now, I decided it may not be a great idea to go with the cheapest or the untested packer and mover. One thing is certain – the party needs to have delivered a very good service to someone you know. The word of mouth and the referral that comes out it is very important. Further, a word back from the referee to the party (packer and mover that they had used) is very important to ensure that the good service continues to be delivered in your case.

Price is not the right determinant of service quality or deliverability of a service.

This is a critical lesson I learnt today.

Cheers,

Vijay Srinivasan
18th February 2012
Mumbai

Driving in Mumbai

This is not a new topic for my blog.

But I felt compelled to write again, after driving today (being a Sunday and so no driver, have to find the way myself !). When the driver is driving the car, you just do something else inside the car and avoid looking out. Any focus on the traffic outside and the way you are being driven around is enough to give a newcomer the jitters.

I observed that my own way of driving a car has changed over the past several years of living in Mumbai. Previously I used to concentrate excessively on the car ahead of me and the three mirrors to see what is going on behind my car. I still sometimes do this, but mostly now I drive by instinct.

You have got to have a well-rounded 360 degree head in order to drive successfully in Mumbai, and you need to make guesstimates on how close the neighbouring car’s edge is located beside your own car’s rounded edges. This comes purely by instinct as geometrical analysis and data interpretation do not really help here on the roads. If we follow the rule that rectangles or squares move ahead in lanes on the road and you can avoid rupture by keeping the edges of the objects within the lane that you are driving, then you are headed for a disaster. That’s because of several reasons – in India, we not only have rectangles and squares, we have trapeziums, circles, ellipses, protractors, compasses, and long objects with seemingly no edges, on the roads at any time. We also have triangles and parallelograms. When you have a traffic comprising of all these objects with sometimes corrugated edges, and then you have roads in which the central dividers have swaying poles, and many a time big rocks or stones on the right edges of the road (India is on right-hand driving, which is the right way any way), then you can imagine the plight of an average driver like me.

I sometimes use the horsepower of the car to surge ahead when the traffic lights turn green, but I found that it is not always a good idea. Yes, I could create a distance between myself and the guys on my sides and back, but it does not work all the time even if I am first off the mark. The reason is simple. The pedestrians do not care about traffic signals, they keep crossing one by one – the dad first, the mom next, and then couple of children after them, or a trolley full of objects which could anytime spill over on to the road which needs to cross despite the traffic signal urging the pedestrians to stop. Apart from this unique “continuous crossing” behaviour of Indian pedestrians, we also have the super duper bikers, who have just learnt how to use their new bikes, and always use parabolic trajectories to overtake others on the road, whether the traffic signals work or not. So, when I am the first vehicle on my lane in the road, I am always almost surrounded by a bevy of bikers, just like the Prime Minister or President of India, or may be the Chief Minister of the state. This is because the bikers like the right most lane, which gives them the adrenalin rush to beat the cars and prove that parabola and ellipsoid are better geometrical figures as compared to cuboid.

Well, well, there are many tricks to be followed on Mumbai roads, but increasingly I have come to rely on my context-sensitive right brain, which signals to me that something is not right, or everything is all right. Generally, the right brain commands me to follow my instinctive reflexes, which it sends to my arms and legs which then act in conjunction to move ahead or stop. I have seen that the other vehicles have taken cognizance of my vehicle because of this manner of driving, which is better suited to Mumbai roads than the left-brain driven intelligent driving which is not practical. So, the other vehicles are now respecting me, and I am kind of pleased with my new status as a recognized driver on Mumbai suburban roads (I am yet to drive to South Mumbai even after almost six years).

I also decided that it is not worthwhile to spend a lot of money on your car in Mumbai as the sea wind causes corrosion of the undercarriage, irrespective of whatever plastic treatment you could do on your car. The bikers and cyclists almost always knock off your side view mirrors and then apologize (sometimes only) with a smile which means that these things are normal on our roads, so do not complain or even try to speak. Just keep the engine of your car running well, and that should be adequate these days. Tyres are already struggling due to the rough patches on the roads which are not attended to by the road works contractors or by the government (they know that people do not vote based on road conditions), with small stones strewn all over the roads.

Another unique feature of Mumbai suburban roads is the shrinkage of lanes from three to two and from two to one. This situation is because of the usage of road space for non-transport purposes, where almost one lane is taken up for various purposes such as loading/unloading, parking, living (yes, you have to see to believe), washing utensils and clothes, storage of heavy equipment (ostentatiously to prove that the government is going to deliver on its road improvement programmes), and conduct of political rallies or delivery of political and or religious speeches to whoever can gather in that space of the road to listen to such speakers.

The loss of such valuable space on the roads causes heartburn to both good and bad drivers, as drivers have to be extremely careful not to horn and not to hit any object (whatever be its geometric shape) or any person who is using that road space. Such practice of forcible and illegal occupation of roads continues unabated despite whatever action that the police takes.

Wow, that is more than a thousand words on my driving experience and general road-related observations from today’s driving. Enjoy driving in Mumbai using your right brain and context-sensitive pop-up menus which would guide your reflexes as you go along. Don’t worry about your car’s health – it would behave fine whatever little shocks you give to it.

Cheers,

Vijay Srinivasan
29th January 2012
Mumbai

Precarious Airlines

The recent coverage of the report on safety standards in airlines (or, lack of it) by DGCA (Director General of Civil Aviation, Government of India) was damning, to say the least. DGCA is the aviation regulator of India.

The DGCA singled out Kingfisher Airlines in the private sector for its lack of compliance to safety standards with lot of statistics, and the report was headlined in the front page of The Times of India. Kingfisher Airlines has lately been in the news for its teething financial troubles, and its inability to operate all its scheduled services. Many of its regular flights remain grounded, and its market share (once exceeding even that of Jet Airways) has dropped significantly in the past couple of months.

Recently, when I had to fly, I gave instructions not to book me in Kingfisher Airlines, as I did not want to get stranded because of last minute cancellation by the airline. I would not be surprised if business travellers are abandoning the airline by the droves as schedules are important to business and surprises at the last minute are surely not good at all.

Notwithstanding all this, people still fly Kingfisher to some extent. Now, after the DGCA audit report and its front-page coverage in newspapers, I would be very surprised if people would want to risk their own safety flying Kingfisher. If there are no pilots, or engineers, that is a big problem. But when the airline is forced to pillage its own aircraft for spare parts, that denotes significant deterioration in its operational safety health. Maintenance is critical for airlines, and financial problems could well force them to adopt short-cuts. This can happen anywhere, but is more likely to happen in India.

I thought India had two world-class airlines – Jet Airways and Kingfisher – having flown extensively in Jet and many a time in Kingfisher as well. In terms of service and the quality of the aircraft, both matched Singapore Airlines. But, now Kingfisher is probably going to go out of business, notwithstanding assurances from their management or from the Indian government. The debt burden has become unbearable for them, and the State Bank of India Chairman stated recently that Kingfisher is a NPA – a non-performing asset – for the bank.

So, my conclusion is that it would become difficult to fly Kingfisher anymore for anyone, and Jet Airways would gain market share. The other good airline to watch is Indigo, again in the private sector. Let us not even talk about Indian Airlines !

I hope that the Indian aviation sector will gain ground after some very tough time if only the government reduces fuel taxes on them and allows foreign investment into the sector. Easier said than done ! Not going to happen anytime soon !!

Cheers,

Vijay Srinivasan
7th January 2012
Mumbai

Train Travel

It has been a long time since I travelled on Indian Railways (a little over 14 months since the last travel !).

Sometimes the only way to reach your destination in India is by train – the roads are unreliable and accident-prone. The safer and surer way would be to trust the Indian Railways.

Of course, as I found out last week, nothing much has changed with the railways, though time has flown by, and the world has changed. Some things remain the same, and a very good example is the railways in India.

Though there was an ambitious plan to convert each railway station to a shopping mall, and increase the security for travelling passengers, not an inch seems to have moved. Indian Railways has valuable real estate properties spread all over India, and under an efficient administration, would have moved ahead in this era of modernity to capitalise on the market opportunities.

I found that the railway station was dirty, over crowded, unsecured, full of touts waiting to pounce on unsuspecting passengers, and provided no customer service or waiting facilities. These things haven’t changed a bit. The only good thing was the arrival of your train at the right time, and its departure at almost the right time, with the ticket checking inspectors (called Train Ticket Examiners) in blue coats and ties entering each compartment to check whether you have tickets to travel on that train.

There is no change in the train either – even in the air-conditioned compartments, with difficult-to-open glass doors, and outdated wash rooms. Everything is same, including the fact that the Ticket Examiners invariably get hounded by wait-listed passengers who know that they cannot get it as the ticket list has been closed, but still trying their luck. The air-conditioning is good on Indian trains, so one would need blankets, which are supplied free of cost. The average speed is around 60 KMPH, and you always feel good to hit the bed in the slightly rocking train which would put you into a solid good sleep in no time.

However, please watch over your own belongings and wake up with your own alarm, as there are no announcements (I wonder why not ?). It is easy to miss your destination, if it arrives early in the morning and you are sleeping in air-conditioned comfort, and nobody bothers you or about you.

Well, I enjoyed the travel on two consecutive nights, and I thought it is always a pleasure to travel on something which does not change or accelerate unnecessarily, despite the obvious inconveniences which I nowadays always ignore. Though my colleague and myself did get into a conversation with a fellow passenger on a comparison with China, I concluded that it is not a worthwhile discussion. The only way things are going to improve dramatically is if the Indian Railways gets competition and that does not appear to be on the anvil in the foreseeable future.

Welcome to Indian Railways and its non-changing system of trains and stations.

Cheers,

Vijay Srinivasan
20th November 2011
Mumbai

Petrol Subsidies in India

The Government of India will spend upwards of INR 1.32L Crores (approximately USD 26B) during the current Fiscal Year in terms of providing subsidies to the oil marketing firms in the country, to compensate for the increasing prices of crude oil.

The Indian Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, recently said that these subsidies are unsustainable, and if the international crude prices rise further, the government would not be able to provide additional subsidies.

For a developing country like India, it would not be possible to spend such huge amounts of money in supporting the three oil marketing companies. Such a huge amount can really help in improving the infrastructure of the country, which is crying for urgent investments.

So, I agree with the Prime Minister – the government should, in fact, cut the subsidies, forcing the oil marketing companies to rise the petrol prices in tune with the international prices. That would be free market operation, and is in consonance with the official government-announced policy on deregulation of petrol prices [the Indian Government still controls the prices of other fuels such as diesel, kerosene and gas].

One way of controlling the fast-rising demand for petrol is to rise the petrol prices, and if the oil marketing companies are independent to operate in this respect, they should not desist from doing so, irrespective of the political costs.

The poor people get affected by diesel, kerosene and gas prices, and not petrol prices. The middle class will be hit the most by increase in petrol prices, but I believe that they will take it and reduce their consumption to accommodate their monthly expense budgets. They have to realize that India depends on imported crude oil for more than 70% of its consumption and there is a price to pay in a world where demand for crude oil is not going to go down. Economic principles have to play a role in determining the price elasticity of demand, and petrol is no different in that respect.

Let us reduce the consumption and try to use shared transportation wherever feasible, rather than imposing a higher demand on imports. There is no other way out in the current situation. Even if oil prices drop in international markets, the oil marketing companies would not pass on the benefit of price reduction, as they would cite their needs to recuperate accrued losses over the past couple of years of high oil prices and the increased cost of import due to the Indian Rupee depreciating by more than 10% against the US Dollar in the past couple of months, leading to a much higher import bill for crude.

So, let us think carefully. Petrol prices will go up, and nothing can be accomplished by fighting the increase, we are in a free-market economy. We cannot have it both ways – free-market whenever it is convenient, otherwise it is socialism !

Of course, if one has a diesel car (disclosure: I have one), then the increase in diesel prices are going to be rather controlled by the government, providing a certain cushion. While this is good, let us not forget that the diesel prices have also gone up, though by a lesser percentage over the past 15 months. Since India is not producing the oil that we all need, it is going to be this way, let us realize the fact.

Government should propagate their oil policy clearly to the citizens so that everyone understands the need for actions that would be taken, and could have early warning to manage their respective budgets. Is there a choice, except for more availability of electric and solar cars, and more car models that would run on compressed natural gas ?

We all should think, instead of just blindly protesting or supporting political parties which take to the streets for every increase in petrol price.

Cheers,

Vijay Srinivasan
13th November 2011
Mumbai

Highways and Indian Drivers

Highways in India do not have speed limits.

What about the non-highways ? I mean, the ordinary roads between two cities or villages, and the roads in most cities, etc., These “other” roads also do not have speed limits, most of the time they have speed levellers. I will explain shortly.

Let us first look at highways. I am reminded of the movie “Dirty Dancing” in which the Cuban dancer boy tells his American girlfriend dancer, while teaching her dancing, that the only time Cubans feel “free” and happy is when they are dancing. At other times, they are “slaves”. I first could not understand what he was saying, then I realized he was hitting out at the revolution in Cuba which had taken away the freedom of the Cubans. They needed an outlet to escape the repression, and that was dancing. May be that is the reason why Cubans are some of the best dancers in the world, as they always yearn to be free.

This is exactly the feeling that an Indian driver gets in India when he gets on to the newly constructed super highways, such as the one between Mumbai and Pune, or Chennai and Pondicherry, etc., An exhilaration hits the driver when he sees the traffic-free toll highways, so smooth and nice, never mind that India is building such highways some six decades after the Americans did. Indians are already free since they live in a democracy, unlike the Cubans, so no comparison in that department of politics, of course. But dancing in Cuba can be compared to driving in new highways in India !

Further, the good news (or the very bad news) is that there are no radar guns trained on the motorists in India. This fact is rather surprising, given the number of accidents that happen on these high quality highways every day. Police should do something to control the speed of motorists who seem to be enjoying their freedom by pressing their accelerators hard and racing to their destination in double quick time, ignoring all safety for themselves and other motorists on the highway.

Indian drivers (like the ones in Thailand) do not like to be overtaken by similar looking cars. They do not really care if a fast car such as a BMW overtakes them, as they know that their 800 or 1000 or 1300 CC cars cannot overtake a 2L or 3L BMW or similar fast cars. But while driving in India, you will notice that most of the cars on the road are actually similar – they are all mostly small sedans, with obvious exceptions of SUVs. So, Indian drivers like to race amongst their similar cars, and test their mettle. In the process, they forget safety.

The worst I have seen is racing while it is raining heavily. That is nothing short of sheer stupidity. Accidents become inevitable.

Coming to road levellers in city roads, I am talking about the speed humps and man-made or nature-made craters, which kind of ensure that all cars are treated fairly on the roads. Indian drivers on these roads are very careful. Even though they still try to overtake in stupid manner, they are more careful as the after-effects of stupidity in city roads lead one to the welcoming hands of a waiting policeman in most traffic junctions.

It is funny to drive on Indian roads, and it is also painful to do so. One can watch the fun or feel the pain. At the end it is the same.

All Indian drivers need to undertake a course on safe driving immediately, but that is just a wish. It will not be fulfilled. So Indian drivers, enjoy your irrational “free” driving on the new highways.

Cheers,

Vijay Srinivasan
01 October 2011
Mumbai

Torrid Time

I am sure you have guessed what I am going to write about !

The rains have caused havoc on Mumbai roads, and the huge number of craters on almost all roads hits one’s eyes and one’s back !! The roads are so poorly maintained that any amount of poor quality surfacing work done becomes totally irrelevant. The Times of India Newspaper has been publishing a constant barrage of news items on the devastation of Mumbai roads for several weeks now. The government departments concerned are in hiding, is that surprising ?

When corruption is the leading topic of the day in India, it is not at all surprising to note that the tendering process for maintaining roads is the root cause for all the poor quality that one sees on our roads. Everyone seems to be looting the exchequer, and no one seems to be bothered. After all, it is public money !

The collusion between government and the road builders was also exposed by The Times of India. But to what avail ? Nothing changes in India. Systems and processes are circumvented by devilish bureaucrats and politicians for their own benefit and for enriching themselves. Given this kind of behaviour, which has been condoned for long by the public, I do not believe that things will change for the better, notwithstanding the Anna Hazare agitation against corruption.

The result of the bad roads is the poor quality of motoring and the impact on one’s health. Vehicles are getting damaged on Mumbai roads, and our own spinal cords are in for hefty damage as well when our vehicles fall in the craters. People should be angry about the colossal mismanagement and the corruption, but they seem to be quite peaceful, enduring all the damage, and re-electing governments without any regret.

The only way this is going to change is if we make voting compulsory for all citizens of voting age in India. Not voting in elections should become a punishable crime. But political parties will not allow this to happen for sure.

I am waiting for the promised fixing of roads, which does not seem to be happening in the neighbourhood I live in. It is not even happening elsewhere. This is the global city of Mumbai.

Cheers,

Vijay Srinivasan
20th August 2011
Mumbai

The Impatient Honkers

During monsoon rains in Mumbai, I find that vehicle drivers on roads are increasing the decibel of their horns as well as the frequency of horning on the roads.

It is quite annoying to be hounded constantly by a joker driver at the back who is potentially horning to avoid another vehicle coming on his way in his lane (not your lane thankfully), and one tends to look at the mirrors to see if it is all about one’s bad driving. I mean yours !

When you figure out that you are driving in your lane perfectly well, and you are not the cause of the commotion at the back, you tend to get irritated with the driver who is horning continuously. Anyone would, and even if I am not driving I tend to turn back and check to see what is going on. After all, the constant honking affects your concentration or your phone call.

I find that the understanding required of drivers during tough driving conditions just does not exist. The drivers are mostly illiterate, or of young blood, or the angry ilk, that they tend to brake hard and horn hard, and think every other driver on the road is a complete idiot to be driving slowly or following the traffic rules. Good drivers are to be banished according to the current drivers on the roads of Mumbai, it appears. I do not, for a moment, agree that Mumbai’s drivers are far better than those in other cities – may be in parts of South Mumbai, the drivers tend to follow rules due to strict enforcement. But in 90% of Mumbai, drivers have gone crazy (they were always crazy, to start with).

I recall policemen used to haul up indiscriminate horners, and even fine them occasionally in Mumbai, because their honking was not required, was causing trouble to other drivers, or was used in silent zones such as hospitals or school areas. But drivers are idiots who do not learn even after paying one or two traffic fines. They continue with their ways, and I have also heard them justifying their ways stating that everyone else is doing that way, and they will be in trouble if they do not follow the other idiots’ driving habits.

At the end of the day, I believe that idiots need to be trained as well and accredited properly, and fined for not following traffic rules, notwithstanding recurrence of their poor driving practices. Any impatient idiots should be fined heavily, and should not be allowed to bribe their way out. They impact on any good drivers on the road in a negative manner, and should be punished vigorously. Suspension of driving licenses, and not monetary fines, is the best punishment to incapacitate idiot drivers.

Hopefully, the monsoon rains are subsiding, and drivers will get back to their normal (yet poor) driving habits in Mumbai. I hope they stop issuing driving licenses till people reach the age of 25, and eliminate major road rage cases as well. Re-training and re-certification is badly needed, but how can the Road Transport Office (the agency responsible for issuing driving licenses) operate in this critically needed area, when they are already knee-deep in water ?

Cheers,

Vijay Srinivasan
13th August 2011
Mumbai