It
was 26 years ago when I was barely 18 ½ that I left home to join the Indian Navy. The next 25+ years I lived
within the confines of the armed forces, in the company of men in uniform who
think alike. Most of the time, I lived within the military cantonment or been
out at sea and thus, I was blissfully unaware of the life outside, till I
swallowed the anchor to join the civil society as a retired Naval Officer in
2011. The series of experiences that I intend to narrate may perhaps be a
normal daily experience of the most. Yet, I feel it is worth writing about -
May be our souls will awaken one day from its deep slumber.
One
fine evening, I was travelling in my car with my wife in company and we were
waiting at a junction for the traffic light to turn green. There was an oil
tanker behind and a state transport bus ahead. The tanker driver was
relentlessly honking behind, suggesting us to disregard the traffic light and
move on. No sooner the light turned amber, the tanker moved furiously and
physically pushed our vehicle ahead by 8-10 meters till we were about to be
sandwiched between the bus and the tanker. We were shocked as no amount of
shouting and screaming dissuaded the driver. Before we could regain our
composure, my driver got off the vehicle, boarded the tanker and physically
manhandled the driver and came down with the keys of the tanker leading to
complete chaos and all rounding honking by vehicles. It was then that the
traffic constables arrived at the scene in their motorcycle. They were
absolutely composed and just not disturbed by any of the happenings. The drill
was very simple – He took the license of the tanker driver and asked him to
call his owner, told my driver to return the keys and instructed both of us to
park the vehicle on the side. I was much relieved to see the men in uniform and
thought that the issue will get resolved soon.
He
called my driver to know the extent of damage to my vehicle and that how much
compensation we expect from the other party. I thought more importantly the cop
should register a case and proceed against the defaulter and hence decided to
intervene. I suggested to the cop to register a case as it was sheer negligence
on the part of the driver/owner and it could have been fatal. Firstly, the
driver was suffering from severe conjunctivitis and was wearing black glasses.
Secondly, there was no conductor in the tanker which is mandatory for heavy
vehicles to guide the driver in heavy traffic. Thirdly, the documents of the
vehicle were not in order.
The
constable looked at me with cynicism, saw the red sticker on my car that read
‘Defence’ and said, “This is not military and I am only trying to help you get
some compensation for the damage caused.” He asserted that if I register a case
I would get nothing and even the owner of tanker and the driver will get away
with minor penalty like reprimand as no damage to life has been caused. I was
confused and my driver thereafter took charge of the situation. The unruffled
owner of the tanker arrived at the site and offered Rs 500/- compensation. After a long haggling, kudos my driver he
managed to get Rs 1100/-. We straight
headed to a garage to be given an estimate of Rs 4500/-. Annoyed by the loss,
we went back to the traffic police and complained. Apparently, by then the deal
was already done and everything around was normal. The tanker was back in
business and the traffic was moving as usual. The traffic cop said, “You are
lucky to get Rs 1100/-. What could you have done had he refused to pay even
that?” I was quite furious but somewhere the cop was right. What could a common
man do in any case? I was made to feel lucky for getting Rs 1100/-, the cop
must have got another Rs 1000/- for mediating the deal and not registering a
case and the owner of the tanker must have felt happy for he saved Rs 2400/-
and avoided any legal hassles – What a win-win situation, is it not?
I am
driving my car in the same damaged condition till date as a sign of protest and
also the fact that I am unable to afford the repair being a pensioner and a
third part insurance holder. There is also this after thought - who knows when
someone else will ram my vehicle yet again? So what is the great point in
getting it repaired?
Now
I understand why we see so many damaged vehicles moving on Indian roads. Now I
know why innocent children are mowed down by vehicles. Now I know why 14 people
die every hour in road accident alone in India. What a shame? Is this the civil
society that thousands of soldiers are protecting at the cost of their own
personal life? Is their sacrifice justified in a society which is so corrupt
and mean? The answer is a definite ‘NO’ I suppose.
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