[deathwalkr]

You guys should be in Trivandrum, Kerala. every other day there is some political procession happening and the main roads get blocked!

[devansn]

Originally Posted by deathwalkr

You guys should be in Trivandrum, Kerala. every other day there is some political procession happening and the main roads get blocked!

And the Kerala High Court (against SC ruling), has allowed religious processions on public roads, but not political. I think the political party supporters are more dedicated and honest with their belief in the party and its leaders than the religious believers are to their faith! At least in Kerala. So in one way, even the court is promoting religiousness and the differences that it causes in society? Or is it that even they are afraid of a "divine intervention" if they disallowed anything (regardless of whether it is ethical or not) related to religion and God?! Or is it that the court is afraid of the political parties that have found out that religion is the best tool for dividing people and conquering?!

Sorry if the post has gone off topic - but its not really off topic, right? Its my opinion about the root cause of all this menace!

[Ice]

In Madras, the issue is a little different. Most of the big wedding halls (lots of people with lots of cars) are on arterial roads. And however well planned out the driveway in the hall is, the queue still spills on to the road. Same traffic problem, different reason. Picture 2000 mini-baaraaths

[Jignesh]

Hello All,

I feel it is more about Indian culture. Since ages we are used to share our Happiness & Sorrows with full Public View. We don't value our Private LIfe & so cannot value others Private Life & Time also.

This is not limited to marriages. Consider Road Blocks due the following also:
1. Religious processions / Celebrations - Nobody can dare speaking against Religious processions on Roads in our Country in name of Secularism
2. VVIP (Political) Movements - People in most cities are now used to Roads blocks to facilitate VVIP Movements.
3. Special Day celebrations (e.g. Diwali, ID etc) - Come any special day & on some part of the Country there will be celebrations on the Roads blocking one or two lanes of Traffic.

In my opinion any celebration on Public Roads should be restricted to non-peak hours & days.

Thanks,

[sgiitk]

@Jignesh; I cannot but agree with you. As for VVIP movements there is a High Court Ruling in UP that traffic cannot be stopped for more than five minutes. So every time they are block traffic (typically for one hour or more for a VVIP) they are in contempt of the court. So far no public minded lawyer has approached the Hon High Court on this. In the last two visits of MMS each time one person could not get to hospital in time and passed away. I am sure if the legal eagles were getting a fat fee they would have been queueing up outside the court door.

[Jignesh]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

@Jignesh; I cannot but agree with you. As for VVIP movements there is a High Court Ruling in UP that traffic cannot be stopped for more than five minutes. So every time they are block traffic (typically for one hour or more for a VVIP) they are in contempt of the court. So far no public minded lawyer has approached the Hon High Court on this.

Hello Mr. SGIITK,

I don't want the discussion to get in to Political issues in India, because this is not allowed on T-BHP.

But yes, I totally share your views. I was once personally roasted & baked in morning heat (as I travel by bike) for 45 minutes, just because there was a road block for a VVIP to pass smoothly from Airport to another location in City. Whenever I see such road blocks, I always wonder that what would happen if my father (or anobody else) has a medical emergency & we are stuck in this traffic. If God forbid, something happens to the patient, whom shall we blame? Ourselves, somebody else or God?

I believe we all have at some point of time experienced Roads due to any of the above reason & we cannot do anything else but feel frustrated.

Moderators, hope the above is not offending T-BHP rules, I am just high-lighting the plight of common man in certain situations.

Thanks,

[sgiitk]

@Jignesh; Do not lose sleep. I had posted the same about MMS in post #55 here some time ago!

[airguitar]

Folks,

Having myself been one of the ilk that thought these as hindrances to the common public and making comments at the drop of a hat on such people - I had to conduct a wedding for our family recently. It's not a unilateral decision you take to have a baraat or not - many people are involved and overriding them with your reasoning can sour up the entire wedding or worse, break it. That's the ground reality. The stakes are high.

We did take the recommendation from the local police station to obtain requisite permissions from the ACP -the process was smooth. The road where the baraat was to happen was an interior road with little to moderate traffic. Still, we were hoping fervently that it didn't cause traffic snarls.

Many folks on the road were enjoying the baraat ( and not to mention a few smirking ones too ). It was all smooth overall.

It's a bit like saying "Let's stop using our cars, because the common man suffers from traffic snarls and soaring fuel prices and depletion of natural resources and take to public transport". You might find a few samaritans who really do that, but nearly everyone, doesn't care - their needs come first.

My apologies if I sounded strong, but this perspective is from the other side.

Originally Posted by madnish30

Well, it all depends on how it's conducted

Is the key. Thank you. Refusal to permit still rests with the Police, remember.

[Jignesh]

Originally Posted by airguitar

That's the ground reality. The stakes are high.
We did take the recommendation from the local police station to obtain requisite permissions from the ACP -the process was smooth. The road where the baraat was to happen was an interior road with little to moderate traffic. Still, we were hoping fervently that it didn't cause traffic snarls.

Hello Airguitar,

That is exactly where the difference lies. You chose to take the Wedding Procession on road, but the Road taken was interior road where there is little or moderate traffic. Appreciate the decision.

Any Procession on such will not cause problems to most of the people.

But what we are frustrated here is with scenes like it is Monday morning & at peak hour (say at 9 or 10 am) there is a wedding procession blocking one of the busy roads. It is this that irks us all the most. People want to reach to their respective destinations & you have a Wedding Procession which is blocking 75% of the road, shouting & dancing merrily.

Thanks,

[sgiitk]

I had occasion to manage / escort two boisterous wedding processions in our campus. On both occasions I managed to make them stay in one half of the road, leaving the other half unobstructed. Since traffic inside camps is quite reasonable, I think this was the best I could do.