[Enigmatic]

Okay so here comes another side of the story .

My father is a bureaucrat and in one of his tours I decided to accompany him .
We were in an Innova driven by a driver and in the co-driver's seat there was a guard , while me and my father were in the back seat .

We were stationary at a railway crossing and after the gates lifted , the traffic started moving slowly . My driver who thinks of himself to be the most important person alive and in an effort to get in front switched on the hooter and raced ahead even though my father had warned him not to do any such acts. And in his stunt he scraped a Delhi registered WagonR on the right side .

Once it was evident that there had been some impact , my father told him to stop , but realizing his mistake he floored the throttle and to my utter surprise even the guard told him to do so !

Inevitably my father shouted at him and the car came to a stop , we backed up where the family in the wagonR was standing still shocked and amazed at this act of road rage . My father got down , personally insured that there were no injuries to any of the occupant's and apologized at the foolish act of my driver and paid them the rough estimate of the damage done .

Many a times it is not the fault of the person who is being driven but the mentality of the drivers is such that they think of themselves as VIP's .

P.S. As it turns out the first thing my father did after we came back from the trip was to transfer the Driver and the Guard.

[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by Enigmatic

Okay so here comes another side of the story .

My father is a bureaucrat and in one of his tours I decided to accompany him .
We were in an Innova driven by a driver and in the co-driver's seat there was a guard , while me and my father were in the back seat .

We were stationary at a railway crossing and after the gates lifted , the traffic started moving slowly . My driver who thinks of himself to be the most important person alive and in an effort to get in front switched on the hooter and raced ahead even though my father had warned him not to do any such acts.

This is so very true. Even my uncle is a bureaucrat and I have traveled with him sometimes in his official car. Every time we encountered a signal, the driver used to switch on the hooter and try to jump it and my uncle always used to scold him for turning on the hooter. The problem is all that extra power would certainly get into the head of these drivers. And they would surely learn new tricks of displaying there power and might by there fellow drivers and guards over the numerous tea sessions in the parking lot.

[ritz3645]

The reason Indian road users give no value to hooter, red/yellow flasher,ambulance siren is because 99% of the times it is missused.
And there develops frustration, anger when someone uses it.

Have noticed many high end cars procuring red batti illegally, just to save time.

Imagine firetenders blaring siren (in you know) and how road just stops, is because of the trust, of the fireman driving it at very high speeds, and the people trusting it s service.

[rattandip]

Anyone driving down NH8 often would have been subjected to this intimidating behavior of so called VIPs and their drivers. IMHO, driving a machine has to be done with certain restrain. Though, I personally have had moments where I have got angry on such stupid acts of bravery by VIP cars and their trailing Gypsies however what we need to realize is that an argument and ‘give-back’ will only cause more heart burn and at times result in an accident situation also. And eitherways not all VIP cars drive like that as well as there are so many other morons who drive on our roads, add a few cows and dogs to make it more interesting, you just can’t keep ‘giving-back’ to all. I remember when I started driving, my (late) dad told me that a good driver is not who does not make a mistake but is one who can manage other’s mistakes also.

[carzone]

Originally Posted by Enigmatic

Okay so here comes another side of the story .

My father is a bureaucrat and in one of his tours I decided to accompany him .
We were in an Innova driven by a driver and in the co-driver's seat there was a guard , while me and my father were in the back seat .
.....
Inevitably my father shouted at him and the car came to a stop , we backed up where the family in the wagonR was standing still shocked and amazed at this act of road rage . My father got down , personally insured that there were no injuries to any of the occupant's and apologized at the foolish act of my driver and paid them the rough estimate of the damage done .
Many a times it is not the fault of the person who is being driven but the mentality of the drivers is such that they think of themselves as VIP's .

P.S. As it turns out the first thing my father did after we came back from the trip was to transfer the Driver and the Guard.

Thats a great deed by your father as opposed to many others who themselves tell their drivers to speed up when such a incident occurs. Hope all the bureaucrats were so responsible for the people they employ.

Originally Posted by drmohitg

This is so very true. Even my uncle is a bureaucrat and I have traveled with him sometimes in his official car. Every time we encountered a signal, the driver used to switch on the hooter and try to jump it and my uncle always used to scold him for turning on the hooter. The problem is all that extra power would certainly get into the head of these drivers. And they would surely learn new tricks of displaying there power and might by there fellow drivers and guards over the numerous tea sessions in the parking lot.

The extra power obviously gets these drivers break the rules. The drivers who drive in such a way when the owner is inside, I wonder how they would be driving without the owner. The drivers do not understand the responsibility they get with the power and hence the careless attitude. Are those drivers not trained to drive responsibly before getting to drive the VIP's?

[ikoneer]

About a month back, i saw a VIP convoy with about 12-15 cars in a mad rush in cathedral road. Traffic actually came to a halt with all these cars around and when the convoy passed, people started moving their vehicles.

A elderly lady in her activa was about to move when she was barely missed by a scorpio (should have been part of the convoy, trying to catch up) and after the scorpio was another innova who again missed the activa lady and speeded. It was her lucky day that she escaped 2 big vehicles.

The reason i am saying this here is to beware when trying to follow the convoy, we never know what will happen if caught between reckless drivers in a convoy.

[samoukar]

I would have reacted in same manner as you did in returning the favor but I almost always regret doing that, since I am neither rich,powerful or well connected to handle the matter if it gets out of hand; and it does get out of hand from time to time even with non-VIPs like Bangalore Cabbies.

You got away lightly when you consider following two news items that I recollect.

This

The Hindu : Today's Paper News : Bache Gowda in road rage fisticuffs

"Labour Minister B.N. Bache Gowda, who was returning to Bangalore after hoisting the national flag in Hassan on Sunday, beat up a businessman and his family at Maragondanahalli, near Nelamangala, for overtaking his car on National Highway 48"


and this

Bangalore minister's son in road rage - The Times of India

[wartikars]

Originally Posted by Screwdriva

An interesting development happened earlier this week...

...I want to know if there exists any mechanism to protect yourself against these sorts? How would you have reacted?

Great presence of mind. What ever you did was very normal. And thanks for sharing. Any person like you, who is a disciplined guy and expects the same, would have done it. But we need to be careful about these dogs on the road. They have too much money, time, power and people.

[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by carzone

The extra power obviously gets these drivers break the rules. The drivers who drive in such a way when the owner is inside, I wonder how they would be driving without the owner. The drivers do not understand the responsibility they get with the power and hence the careless attitude. Are those drivers not trained to drive responsibly before getting to drive the VIP's?

Right from day one we are taught that in our country VIP is god, and there is nothing bigger than power. So how do you expect these drivers to follow the rules? Infact I would not be too wrong in saying that given a red beacon 99% of Indian car drivers would drive like they own the road. So you cannot really blame these drivers alone. Its the mentality that has to change.

[PGA]

Originally Posted by damanshaheed

The fortuner's reg# was PUP 1, how appropriate......

That is a Patiala registerd vehicle. Have seen it around in Chandigarh, will keep a look out for it now. Shameless owner needs to be exposed in print.
Though I hold no brief for any political party and no way have any affiliations, I have seen a marked improvement in Punjab these days with regard to these VIP vehicles. Very few red light mounted vehicles or the police escorts on the roads. I have seen the change in last few months. Till the elections in Feb Mar this year every second vehicle on the road had a hooter and red light, virtually all officials above the rank of Tehsildar were permitted their use and on road my blood pressure would shoot beyond the scale on the sight of these morons. It is much better now.
Some silver lining, things can improve. Would be interested to know how is the situation in Gujrat since it is one of the better governed states. Himachal is also not bad.

[Optimus7]

Ok, this happened a couple of months back. Wife and myself had dinner at the MGM beach resort and was starting to leave around 11 PM. The road from the parking bay to the ECR road is a 2 lane road (around 500m long). Halfway through it, there was a utility 3 wheeler and adjacent to that, coming towards me, was a Scorpio.

I had no way to go, so waited for them to end their converstaion. The scorpio was in high beam and gave no indication of acknowledging my presence. I flashed the dipper asking him to lower his beam, after a while turned off my headlights and on again. Still there was no response from that vehicle. It was close to 2 minutes at that stage, and I was losing patience big time. My wife calmed me down and told me probably they were having a problem. I honked flashed repeatedly, still got no reaction. I got out of the car and walked a few steps, when I realized the car had the flag of a local political party, and there were 2 guys standing near the car and talking. I realized there was no problem there except pure arrogance and absence of civic sense, can't expect any decent converstaion with them.

I walked back to the car and decided to wait, I didnt want any ugly incident to take place, especially with missus in the car at that time of night. After a while the utility van left. The Scorpio was still standing and the 2 guys were starring at my car. I drove forward, when I was alongside them, the guys stopped my car and asked me where I was going and what was my hurry (I was aghast at this question, when they had held me up for close to 3 minutes for no reason). I ignored the question and told the driver, you could have parked the car to the side and lowered the beam.

There was a voice inside the vehicle like (what the hell is his problem?), and the 2 guys wanted me to come out and talked in an unruly manner. I scouted the vehicle and found that these were only partymen and no politician was inside. My wife was scared at this point and wanted me not to say a word and drive away. By this time their language was getting very indecent, I was very much angry, but realized arguing with them will make matters worse. Rolled up the windows and started to drive off, when one of the guys hit the car in the boot with his hand. I stopped the car and looked back at that guy and asked him what is his problem? At this time, the driver too stepped out and started walking towards my car. The guard at the gate shouted at me to just drive off, my wife literally begged me to just drive off, thankfully I didn't let my anger boil over and gave way to common sense and drove off hurriedly.

It is like having our hands, legs and eyes tied and getting abused, we can do nothing but to yield and wait it out. After this I am extra careful when I come across a flag bearing car. When will this apathy end.

[shankar.balan]

Must have been the black and red boys - I am surmising here. Why, it could even have been the Madam followers! Silly TN - there are only 2 parties who can ever rise there. Seriously stupid voting public in TN- completely star struck or completely cowed down - no middle ground at all!

The thing is that the situation has boiled over all over the country with all sorts of undesirable creepies having entered politics and there being no regulation at all to keep them in check. It is the same in Karnataka and elsewhere too.

Sincerely, the time may have come for free thinking and sensible Indians to either fight back against this rubbish OR take the simpler path to emigration.

India is a sick, gangrenous country right now and we need to have nothing less than amputation to solve the problem. Desperate situations call for Desperate Measures indeed.

I sincerely wish we could have around 20 years of Army Rule + Private Corporate Participation.

We need a revolution against the scum - a la France in 1789.

Originally Posted by Optimus7

Ok, this happened a couple of months back. Wife and myself had dinner at the MGM beach resort and was starting to leave around 11 PM. The road from the parking bay to the ECR road is a 2 lane road (around 500m long)...

...It is like having our hands, legs and eyes tied and getting abused, we can do nothing but to yield and wait it out. After this I am extra careful when I come across a flag bearing car.

[Iluvcars]

@Screwdriva: I have a whole lot to say but let me summarize this way: "Do NOT forget this incident the next time you go to the polling both and do NOT forget to go to the polling booth next time when you ought to!".

[Iluvcars]

Originally Posted by Optimus7

When will this apathy end.

When we (includes me, very much) start to vote and do that sensibly. No offense meant to you. Stay away from vehicles with party flags.

[skandyhere]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Sincerely, the time may have come for free thinking and sensible Indians to either fight back against this rubbish OR take the simpler path to emigration.

India is a sick, gangrenous country right now and we need to have nothing less than amputation to solve the problem. Desperate situations call for Desperate Measures indeed.

I sincerely wish we could have around 20 years of Army Rule + Private Corporate Participation.

We need a revolution against the scum - a la France in 1789.

Sir, the gangrene has spared just a few parts of the body. Amputation works when only a small part is gangrenous. This is our country, these are our countrymen and the problem is NOT that the wrong kind of people have crept into politics. The problem is that maybe 9 out of 10 of our countrymen are like this, and you will continue to see the same arrogance and loathsome personality in just about anyone in their shoes, because this is the people that we are! Not the minority; rather an overwhelming and hopeless majority. Without worrying too much about being politically correct, I say this because I'm sure every Very Unimportant Person with enough experience in life will have had some experience or the other, of dealing with these critters.

You measure a bag of rice pulling out a fistful sample. Do the same with our countrymen and you find that democracy has succeeded brilliantly, because the scum sitting there in parliament buildings are perfectly representative of us on the streets.

Exceptions abound in a diverse country like India, but I speak for the vast majority here - we lack basic courtesy and think it's unnecessary and a sign of weakness. We lack respect for others' time because we don't even know what to do with ours. We lack civic sense because we're the first generation to see and experience all the economic machinery around us; our parents had no idea of civic sense and so did not teach us. We have colossal arrogance because blatant display of arrogance from the powerful is what India has seen since times immemorial. The economic machinery that I spoke of is so new and so sudden in our lives that it's swept us off our feet. We suddenly have lots of money but absolutely nothing else, least of all, basic human virtues! Sounds very abrasive and offensive, but fact is, this is MY country and I really say this with pain and disappointment. In any case, I'm unhesitant because if I shouldn't target and speak of my own weaknesses, then who should?

When will this change? Only when one generation takes over from the other, certainly not coming from the same people. Change will come about without any doubt; whether this change will be for the better or worse is anyone's guess!