Traffic rules in India are viewed as tentative suggestions rather than commandments. They are broken far more often than they are followed. Overtaking from the left, jumping signals, entering one-way streets or driving on the wrong side of the divider, overtaking to block oncoming traffic --- all these are par for the course. So when we see people behaving in a thoughtful, orderly, disciplined manner on our roads our first thought is – this cannot be India.
Everyone, cars, two-wheelers are waiting neatly within their own side of the road without encroaching on the other side. I saw something similar when on a holiday in Meghalaya: there was a jam but the road users kept to their side and didn’t mindlessly rush onto the wrong side of the road.
Anand Mahindra thought this was inspirational – something that other Indians could learn from to improve the quality of our lives.
No, we cannot dream of this in Delhi or most of North India. The urge to get ahead at all costs and a complete lack of interest in the greater good will have people overtaking those waiting in line even when they know it will worsen the situation.
This person seems to think that this has to do with population and urbanization. This is a long line that is stretching around the corner in what appears to be a town so both those arguments ring hollow.
Tweet points out that traffic discipline is better places like Kerala as well – I have also found this to be true personally.
On hill roads people do tend to follow traffic discipline to an extent – especially on narrow hilly roads where there is absolutely no wiggle room.
This could have something to do with lower traffic density – or just better sense?
This is difficult to imagine, for those of us who drive every day on NCR roads. Images like this fill us with astonishment – and envy.
This is a familiar sight: when road dividers…are no barrier.
Former chief of army, General Malik also agreed.
We do see instances of good road disciple in other areas as well as this tweet points out.
We are more likely to see a logjam like this where everyone is in a hurry (but no one seems to arrive on time, curiously).
This is a common sight in many parts of India – no one cares for the wellbeing of other road users --- and even their own it would seem! Self-regulation? Who’s that!
Levels of education, the status of women and other social indicators are better in the North East points out this tweet; indicating that this is a cultural issue. We have much to learn from the North East of our country, says this tweet.
This is the crux of the matter – having a civic sense is all about caring for the greater good and having a sense of community and fellow feeling for other citizens. If however one always sees others as competition, even a threat, then there is little hope of developing respect for others – for the system or the community. This is why, the kind of decency or just good sense that we see among road users in the North East, is so hard to find in other parts of India.
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