[Oxy]

Brilliantly put Ashwin. You echo my views on this issue.

Why should it be assumed I don't respect the Kannada culture if I can't speak the language? Why should an Indian citizen, who pays taxes in India be treated like an alien in his own country? How am I "polluting the city" if I cannot speak the local language?

Some 8 years back when I moved to Bangalore, a bus conductor even went as far as saying that I am here only to snatch their jobs and to screw their innocent women. This was only because I made the mistake to ask him in Hindi if the bus goes to my destination, to which his immediate reaction was, "You look like you have been to school, can't you read the board"? If I could read the board, which was in Kannada, would I have asked him the question in the first place?

The humiliation happened at the Marathahalli bridge bus stand, in front of atleast some 50 people, none of whom uttered a word. They were just giggling, enjoying the fun. Disgusting.

[sumathindra]

Let me put it this way.

I was born in Shimoga (Karnataka), grew up in Mumbai and spent 25 years there and now living in Bangalore for the past 16 years! First and Indian and then a Kannadiga.

Have lived in Delhi for almost a year, spent a couple of months in places like Calcutta, Jammu and traveled to most of the states if not all in India. Of course visits overseas as well.

Having said that, I honestly miss the Bangalore of the 80's and 90's! Those were the best days of Bangalore at its pristine glory in terms of space, climate, people and almost every good things one can think of.

The deterioration began in the mid 90's and it was governance at fault. If they were able to take some steps then in terms of planned development, law and order, regulation I am sure things would have been different now. The sentiments of the locals radically started to change then and is quite natural. It’s like the US folks reacting to outsourcing! However the mantra to survive not only in Bangalore but anywhere in the globe is “be a Roman in Rome”. This simple principle can eliminate cultural/linguistic/religious differences and help in personal and society to develop and move ahead.

There is nothing wrong in learning the local language and no shame in it. Trust me I take immense pride in saying I know 8 languages and want to learn more! When one becomes resistive to change and not learning the language of the land one is living/earning in you can start seeing the cracks develop. Live and let live folks…

[saket77]

Now, do we have any right to ask the foreign diplomats and ambassadors residing in India that why an Indian was racially abused in his country like US, UK or Australia? When an Indian is abused in another state in his own country, I think we need to look it up in our country first, then ask other countries that why an Indian was racially abused in theirs.

[Oxy]

Originally Posted by sumathindra

There is nothing wrong in learning the local language and no shame in it. Trust me I take immense pride in saying I know 8 languages and want to learn more! When one becomes resistive to change and not learning the language of the land one is living/earning in you can start seeing the cracks develop. Live and let live folks…

Sorry but I disagree.

Fine, there's nothing wrong in it, but for someone like me who's lived all his life in Delhi, learning any South Indian language would take a herculean effort.

And where is the motivation to take such pains to learn the language? As someone said earlier, I'd rather learn Mandarin or Chinese since that would help me earn. For what reason should I learn Kannada? Just to help me argue with senseless morons on the roads and the cops?

Sorry but that's just not worth the hassle.

[srishiva]

Not sure why its going OT here. I have been on the receiving side of road rage or big vehicle so its my problem (Yes, I should not have braked suddenly for the poor auto guy behind me). Language doesn't make any difference.

Its natural for people to assume an identity (could be economical or religion or language) to oppose or resist someone. So its also wrong for people to assume that they were victims because they did not know Kannada. Dont self victimize yourselves.

Also, we Indians are same even when we are abroad. Other than the language we dont really bother to assimilate.

[sumathindra]

Originally Posted by Oxy

but for someone like me who's lived all his life in Delhi, learning any South Indian language would take a herculean effort.

Honestly I do not want to get into this debate as it is your opinion and I was expressing mine! To answer your above statement on motivation and learning; it does not need motivation, an interest to learn anything new can pave way. I believe just because you faced a situation you are reacting. Put that episode behind you and move on. We find people like the ones you faced every where, even outside Bangalore!

At the end of the day whether one learns a language or anything new is always knowledge gained, nothing lost right :-)

[vb-saan]

Can I suggest taking a step back, and think through the topic being discussed here. The topic being discussed here is of Road rage. From what I understand, road-rage is some kind of an unruly behavior by a driver/rider, which can be dangerous (at times life threatening) for fellow road users. Road-rage at various levels happens everywhere. I don’t think this is an occurrence just on Bangalore roads.

Some of the posts above – mainly on acceptance, adaptability, mob against an outsider etc. are quite off-topic on this thread IMO

[sumathindra]

Originally Posted by vb-san

Some of the posts above – mainly on acceptance, adaptability, mob against an outsider etc. are quite off-topic on this thread IMO

Spot on. It is a thin line between the two and most of the times people tend to cross the line resulting in conflicts.

[shami62]

Keeping cool and mature behavior pays. Say sorry if you are wrong. Do not try to run away from situation but handle gracefully, if you are mature and graceful the onlookers will always support you.

[apachelongbow]

^^ very true!! A cool mature perspective solves almost all problems. The issue in this thread is people assume all road rage instigators must be mentally unbalanced and all victims are angels of god. The reality is somewhere in the middle. Unless you encounter a maniacal killer, most of the aggressive people are just waiting to hear an apology. A simple sorry will not put you down nor make the other guy more aggressive, mostly things will cool down rapidly once both see the foolishness of their behaviours.
That's why I said, I will step out of my car and at least talk to the other guy, may be his venting out with words will de escalate the situation. There are many times when the aggressive guy has understood his mistake when I spoke with him and has apologised.

[srishiva]

Yesterday there was a bike guy who had stopped on the rightmost lane to drop his friend on a busy ORR stretch. As though it was not enough when he started again, he didn't just move straight but came to the left where I would be trying to avoid him.

I just asked what is this with my hand to which he waived a sorry. I felt guilty for having asked maybe a little aggressively. If people acknowledge mistakes, even the other guy would feel happy.

[ashwin.terminat]

Moving on with the thread.

I would attribute a majority of road rage incidents to Traffic Cops not doing their job efficiently. Everyday I see plenty of people driving/riding with their High Beam on, on the wrong side of the road, on the footpath, jumping signal etc.

If cops did their jobs efficiently and ensured that the number of such incidents reduces, we wouldn't get so worked up because such incidents would be few and far between.

[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by ashwin.terminat

I would attribute a majority of road rage incidents to Traffic Cops not doing their job efficiently. Everyday I see plenty of people driving/riding with their High Beam on, on the wrong side of the road, on the footpath, jumping signal etc.

If cops did their jobs efficiently and ensured that the number of such incidents reduces, we wouldn't get so worked up because such incidents would be few and far between.

Lets give the cops too some credit man. They are underpaid for the kind of work we expect out of them, iced with honour and integrity. Also they are extremely short staffed for the kind of humongous increase in traffic volume we are witnessing. Whats the responsibility of WE people? We are able to afford a million rupee car but lack the basic common sense and road manners. I doubt if that can be cured by fines. There is a limit to the number of vehicles you can prosecute. We jump signals, cut lanes at will, drive with high beams, park in the wrong places, block traffic but going on wrong way, honk at will and on top of that curse and pick up fights at the slightest opportunity. Just a thought.

[ashwin.terminat]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

Lets give the cops too some credit man. They are underpaid for the kind of work we expect out of them, iced with honour and integrity. Also they are extremely short staffed for the kind of humongous increase in traffic volume we are witnessing. Whats the responsibility of WE people? We are able to afford a million rupee car but lack the basic common sense and road manners. I doubt if that can be cured by fines. There is a limit to the number of vehicles you can prosecute. We jump signals, cut lanes at will, drive with high beams, park in the wrong places, block traffic but going on wrong way, honk at will and on top of that curse and pick up fights at the slightest opportunity. Just a thought.

Not saying that all cops are bad. But ever so often, you see people jumping signal right in front of a cop and the cop doing nothing about it. Not even bothering to note down the vehicle's number. Every signal, I see some 4-5 people waiting on the zebra crossing for the signal to turn green. People come on the wrong side hoping to circumvent traffic jams. Cops need to treat them like school children, punish them for every small crime.

But yes, they are severely understaffed and underpayed. But also very badly managed, having 4-5 cops at one signal is completely unnecessary and a waste of such a limited resource.

Can't blame them for our shortcomings, but people are becoming increasingly ignorant because of the system's ineffectiveness. If the legal system tightens up, I'm sure Road Rage incidents will be a stray one.

Just think about it, if no one comes against the one way and hinders you, why would get upset about it? If no one jumps signal and almost crashes into you, you have no reason to get worked up.

It's unfortunate, but true. Bangalore has reached a state of saturation where cops need to pull up their socks and take their jobs seriously.

[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by ashwin.terminat

Can't blame them for our shortcomings, but people are becoming increasingly ignorant because of the system's ineffectiveness. If the legal system tightens up, I'm sure Road Rage incidents will be a stray one.

It's unfortunate, but true. Bangalore has reached a state of saturation where cops need to pull up their socks and take their jobs seriously.

I totally agree with you. Most of them are not doing there jobs efficiently and are rather happy in stopping trucks and those public carriers to take bribes etc. Or stand at one of those hidden small signals to catch unsuspecting drivers. And at the same time we as citizens also are not doing anything to make our lives easier and happily break every law possible as a matter of habit and choice.

Bangalore has indeed become clogged over the last 5-6 years. And for that I would blame the Politician and city planners for not taking adequate steps and ensuring wider roads, flyovers etc. They should learn something from Delhi in this aspect. The amount of traffic Delhi roads are able to handle is phenomenal. Ofcourse we have got a different city set up in Delhi but still I failed to see any serious initiative in Bangalore to cure the traffic problem.