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Bangalore's singaporean dream - possible!!!!
Ex-Chief Minister of Karnataka S.M.Krishna spoke of his dream to recreate Bangalore into a city like Singapore. A couple of days ago I read an article in the Deccan Herald referring to this and pointing out how Bangalore can not be another Singapore because the discipline that makes Singapore what it is comes from the citizens and that such a discipline does not exist in Indians.
A fair assessment of the situation - but like many of the blogs I read each day, the emphasis is on the evils and shortcomings that exist in the country. I have yet to read one that puts forward - if not concrete steps that can be taken to remedy the situation - at least some hints to the direction that needs to be taken.
Reading that article started a train of thought about whether such a dream can ever come to fruition and what could be done to start the process.
Bangalore's travails are there for all to see - the undisciplined traffic being the most visible one. Tackling all the ills is a colossal task so let us look at this most visible of shortcomings.
Why do traffic jams occur so often in Bangalore? Are they because of the inadequacy of road space? Only partly. The most important reason for the snarls is the 'I, me, myself' syndrome that afflicts the majority of the drivers in the city. Every one wants to be the first to cross the junction. The most common sight is of vehicles entering and stopping at the junction in the wrong lane. When the signal is red and the line of vehicles goes beyond the section with the barriers, the 'enterprising' (read HOGS) start leaving their own sides and entering into the lane meant for oncoming traffic. Often, by the time the signal turns green, only a one-vehicle-width space is left free for the vehicles coming in the opposite direction and as a result one needs about a minute just to cross the junction.
If this one illness of the drivers could be cured then 90% of the jams would disappear. I am sure that most of the readers reading this will be laughing at the thought that with the thousands of drivers on the roads achieving this would be an impossibility.
I think the best weapon for this are the children. Drill it into their heads in school that this is a shame and make them passionate about it. Today's teenagers are tomorrow's drivers. Nothing motivates a teenager more than proving that he/she is better than his/her parents/elders. Convince them that by sticking to their lane and waiting till the signal becomes green makes them better than all those oldies who rush off early and you have a generation of new drivers proud of their self-control. Encouraging the children to talk about the shame of signal breaking is a sure way of stopping their parents from doing it themselves.
Just a few days ago, the only two cars waiting for the signal to turn green were mine and another loaded with youngsters. Irritated honks notwithstanding, the barely-out-of-the-teens driver gave me a cheeky grin and refused to budge even after the light turned amber and zoomed off giving me a thumbs-up when it became green.
This brought home to me this idea that maybe it is time for us to use this thrill of riling elders that teenagers seem to have in abundance and making it possible for them to do it for a just cause.
It is a misconception that youngsters are the main culprits of indisciplined driving. Nor is it a malady of the lesser educated. The biggest culprits seem to be the educated, upwardly mobile middle and upper income group people driving expensive cars and high end two-wheelers and that is the biggest shame. What is forgivable for the unlettered or uneducated is unpardonable when commited by the educated. Education brings about its own arrogance and therefore it needs something out-of-the-normal to counter it.
May be, the only remedy now is for the child to become the father of man!
A fair assessment of the situation - but like many of the blogs I read each day, the emphasis is on the evils and shortcomings that exist in the country. I have yet to read one that puts forward - if not concrete steps that can be taken to remedy the situation - at least some hints to the direction that needs to be taken.
Reading that article started a train of thought about whether such a dream can ever come to fruition and what could be done to start the process.
Bangalore's travails are there for all to see - the undisciplined traffic being the most visible one. Tackling all the ills is a colossal task so let us look at this most visible of shortcomings.
Why do traffic jams occur so often in Bangalore? Are they because of the inadequacy of road space? Only partly. The most important reason for the snarls is the 'I, me, myself' syndrome that afflicts the majority of the drivers in the city. Every one wants to be the first to cross the junction. The most common sight is of vehicles entering and stopping at the junction in the wrong lane. When the signal is red and the line of vehicles goes beyond the section with the barriers, the 'enterprising' (read HOGS) start leaving their own sides and entering into the lane meant for oncoming traffic. Often, by the time the signal turns green, only a one-vehicle-width space is left free for the vehicles coming in the opposite direction and as a result one needs about a minute just to cross the junction.
If this one illness of the drivers could be cured then 90% of the jams would disappear. I am sure that most of the readers reading this will be laughing at the thought that with the thousands of drivers on the roads achieving this would be an impossibility.
I think the best weapon for this are the children. Drill it into their heads in school that this is a shame and make them passionate about it. Today's teenagers are tomorrow's drivers. Nothing motivates a teenager more than proving that he/she is better than his/her parents/elders. Convince them that by sticking to their lane and waiting till the signal becomes green makes them better than all those oldies who rush off early and you have a generation of new drivers proud of their self-control. Encouraging the children to talk about the shame of signal breaking is a sure way of stopping their parents from doing it themselves.
Just a few days ago, the only two cars waiting for the signal to turn green were mine and another loaded with youngsters. Irritated honks notwithstanding, the barely-out-of-the-teens driver gave me a cheeky grin and refused to budge even after the light turned amber and zoomed off giving me a thumbs-up when it became green.
This brought home to me this idea that maybe it is time for us to use this thrill of riling elders that teenagers seem to have in abundance and making it possible for them to do it for a just cause.
It is a misconception that youngsters are the main culprits of indisciplined driving. Nor is it a malady of the lesser educated. The biggest culprits seem to be the educated, upwardly mobile middle and upper income group people driving expensive cars and high end two-wheelers and that is the biggest shame. What is forgivable for the unlettered or uneducated is unpardonable when commited by the educated. Education brings about its own arrogance and therefore it needs something out-of-the-normal to counter it.
May be, the only remedy now is for the child to become the father of man!
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