It is often said that the Mumbai Local brings Mumbaikars closer (literally too :).
You smile at people you dont know, share newspapers with strangers,
occassionally you get up to make way for an elderly person...
I have known people who have become friends only because of the
train journey... they sing, play cards and bond in an unusual way...
But the exact opposite seems to be happening on the roads...
I feel that people have become more aggressive, indisciplined and intolerant...
We dont think twice before blowing the horn or mentally (& sometimes actually) abusing a bad driver...
we dont spare anyone... be it new learners or old uncles.
No one wants to wait for others or give someone else a chance...
Its gone to such an extent that no one expects others to be nice.
Two incidents that happened this weekend lead me to believe
that the city is in a constant state of anger, agression and
cynicism when it comes to driving on Mumbai roads.
The first happened at Dharavi... where Human traffic is more chaotic
& difficult to handle than vehicles.
A traffic cop was handling the crowd brilliantly at what must be
Asia's most populated junction... The traffic was moving smoothly thanks to him.
As I passed him at the junction, I gave him a Smile...
you know just to say Thanks, Great Job...
He looked at me with SHOCK!!
I dont know whether he couldnt believe that someone was smiling at him or thought that I was mocking him..
but he couldnt just believe that someone had smiled at him!!
A similar incident happened the same day...
A truck driver had sensibly kept place for vehicles to cross at a junction
as the traffic in his direction was completely stalled.
As i crossed the junction, I waved out to him saying thanks...
He thought that I was shouting/abusing him...
He shouted back saying "Jagah to rakha hai na"...
Even he didn't expect someone to actually thank him..
sadly i didnt have the time to clarify what i meant...
But these incident really worry me... where is our city going?
What kind of stress levels can we sustain?
Has the traffic situation deteriorated to such an extent
that it is pulling the city apart??
And the saddest part is... none of us (including me) will do anything about it :(
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3 comments:
You can say it's kind of an evolution of human nature at a particular place. Not sure about Mumbai, but in Kolkata, the human nature of both the northern and southern part of the city is completely different. In North Kolkata, if mistakenly your shoulder gets in the way of somebody while walking, they'll start quarreling in the middle of the road. Whereas in South Kolkata, if somebody's foot slips and he falls on the pavement, 5 to 6 guys will instantly come to him to help him stand up. After coming to Mumbai, I learnt something. Initially I was way too polite to the rick drivers and most of them used to talk very rudely to me. Then from the day I started talking in the typical 'dada-giri tone', they seem to behave properly. I don't get. I just don't get why is it so?? You tell me ... ;)
It's just something we can't help.
While in Rome, do as the Romans do.
maybe they didn't expect a beautiful girl like you to pass such nice gesture at them so they couldn't believe it :)
LG
Yeah, I too feel that people have stopped feeling human! (including me) esp on the streets.
But one must continue to spread the cheer! It will help eventually! : )
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