Driving Ethics
I have been having an amazing experience while coming to the office in my cab. As can be generalized, all my previous cab drivers were scumbags. Trying to squeeze their cab into a place which would be tough for even a two-wheeler… (okay, am exaggerating.. but you know what I mean) . This particular driver, who was assigned our route is completely opposite to the other cabbies.
He is more CONSIDERATE! Yeah, that is the word.. considerate. He considers people, dogs, cats, squirrels, other vehicles and also the people inside his cab, their schedules, their timings etc. It is a pity that he is assigned only the night shift and only a pick-up to office during the day shift, but this kind of driving is really to be praised.
Just a few points that I observed and I feel I have to mention here:
No honking et all: Not even necessary honking.. forget unnecessary honking. The realization that no matter how much you honk, if the traffic in front of you is not moving, you cannot move. And also, the realization that no matter you honk or not, you will move in your own pace and cannot fly on the streets of Bangalore.
Go and let go: Go when you have space on the roads.. go fast.. but not rash, let others go if they want to go fast and you realize that you are obstructing their path
Consider every other being while driving: Today morning, There was this person lifting some 12 Nandini milk crates and trying to cross the road. There were 3 BMTC buses coming, none of them cared to stop and let this person cross the road. There was a Govt. of Karnataka car which had a minister sitting inside (I recognized the minister, but I dont want to mention his name) and the driver narrowly avoided bumping into this man. There were people driving their kids to school, there were school vans filled to the brim with school kids and none of them stopped, or even paused to let this guy go. Our cab driver, Manjunath, did not bother about the traffic behind him, he stopped, asked this guy to cross the road and then, we came to the office. This is just an example. The same attitude was displayed towards a very old man driving a scooty near Forum Mall, and a small kid crossing the street at Adugodi.
These small minute acts are very much needed in life. I am fortunate to have the experience of interacting with some such people in life. This cab driver is the third driver who is so considerate, the other two being in Mysore.
I am actually wondering something…. Almost daily, I come across some “educated” and “well settled” folks fighting with each other over some accident and all of them being in their own rush hours without having the time to enjoy their surroundings, but not realizing that whatever they do, they would reach their destination at the time that they usually reach. Even if the roads are free or they are choc-a-bloc with traffic. If they are destined to go to some place at some time, that is what they do. If that is the case, why hurry?
These folks would be in mid-management or senior management positions having sedans and SUVs and would be competing with cab drivers and BMTC bus drivers over the ownership of the road and over who is going to reach the destination faster. What they miss out is that no matter what they do, it is the same time and it is not only their own lives but also the lives of the passers by and their families that would be in danger. Instead of rushing at the last moment, what major loss would happen if they leave the house about 15 minutes earlier? I am sure that every 5 minutes makes a lot of difference, esp. in namma Bengaluru Traffic. If they leave their houses 15 minutes earlier, they have ample time to enjoy their surroundings as well as reach office in a tension free way.
Life is a similar journey.. all are traveling. If you hurry towards the goal, you would miss on all the beautiful things in life. So, better relax and let things happen at their own pace. At the end of it, everyone reaches the same destination…. Ain’t it?
Have a goal, work towards it and make it a reality, but at the same time, do not lose out on life’s small pleasures and offerings.
Excellent points on how you can do good on the roads without leaving the driving seat! Kudos.
It is easy to say 15 minutes early. But in my opinion, 15 minutes in morning is as valuable as 1 hour in the evening.
But normally, it is NOT about reaching early. For people who (as you correctly pointed out) want to own the road, it is more about overcoming the sudden feeling of being incompetent is what drive them. Pure human instinct for survival. We have gone too far from the hard-to-survive era. Now it is make-your-mark era.
Understanding people can be very different from us can help a lot.
I think the best thing to do is to actually give a positive feedback on him to the concerned people — they will be, mostly get surprised though.
Nice of you to have noted this down…
Its sad that people who teach behavioural techniques to people at work dont understand quite a lot of same behaving on the road!
Regards,
Cruisemaniac.
the article is really good..an eye opener to some extent.We r so caught up with the mechanical life of blr tht v forget these minute things,that r really imp ..thanks for reminding!!!