Indians have a knack of being leaders. In fact, I could go the distance
and say that we Indians are born leaders. You want an example from my
side, well consider it your lucky day I will give you one. Since the day I
became sensible enough to understand the world a little, I have observed people
with a relatively high degree of interest than you would expect from normal
people. Luckily, while observing people I have been able to maintain a low
profile to prevent myself from being labelled as a lunatic in a highly self-conscious
Indian society. We live in a society full of hypersensitive individuals. We
never get offended when our tirangaa, the national flag, is run over and
stomped by us after each republic and Independence day. Half of the people
reading this would not even understand the difference between republic day and Independence
Day (true story). But let's not tread on that line as it is too dangerous( for
me) as I could be labelled a traitor and made an outcast by the patriotic
chauvinists. So, let’s come to the point. See the same tirangaa when
disrespected by the foreign liquor companies or TV anchors wearing tirangaa
sarees gets a very angry and outrageous response from the conscious patriots.
Yes yes I know i am missing the wood for the trees, deviating from the topic at
hand and all but let’s face it I am just being an Indian.
If I ask my respected readers as to how many care about the nation many
would be amused as to what kind of a question is it. But when I ask the same
readers about how many of them have given a bribe to a tout to make their
driving licenses the responses would surely be overwhelmingly in affirmative. Not
surprisingly then that many of us do not really have to go through a driving
test before we actually get our driving licenses. In fact i know of a lot of
people who have licenses to drive a four wheeler but, astonishingly, to put it
in American vernacular “ don’t know shit about driving a 4-wheeler.”. TaDa. The result of this is easily evident once you enter
the Indian “death roads”.
Next time you are on a driving trail in the city, just observe where people
stop in a red light stop. Almost everyone stops after the stop line. Shit. Not
quite. If anything that’s only the start of “Shit Happens”, as the moment the traffic light
is about to turn green these sons and daughters of Schumachers and Rossi’s race the accelerator and jump even before the
lights turn green. Shit. Not quite again. See, these people are so much full of
courage or total disregard for law (or are sure of the indifference of the
traffic constable, whichever way you want to put it) that in spite of the
traffic controller standing right there they jump the stop lines and red lights
Shrrrrrrooom and Vrroooom they go. How we respect the law can also be gauged by
one personal example of mine. Just the other day as I stopped before a stop
line on a red light right here in my hometown Dehradun, I heard the blowing
horn of a Honda City car, on finding out that the horn was directed at me, I
replied it’s red light. So this guy, who looked suave and decent, started
calling me names because according to him i could have moved even further than
standing like a stupid person before a stop line. The lights turned green, and
as this car passed by me the driver had a word of advise for me......Ye India
hai, INDIA.........sure it is!!!!!
-Sunny Gusain
