As a defence officer, I was always made to believe that I am a class 1 gazetted officer of the government of India at par with the IAS, IPS etc. I lived for 25 years with that pride and discharged my duty of defending this great nation. When I retired after 25+ years, I could afford to own a 3 BHK duplex in the suburbs of Nagpur around 15 Kms away from the city on the Kamptee Road and most of my neighbors are either retired defence officers like me or some class 3 government officials and I wonder how they could afford to own such duplex. Well I am sure we know the answer. Recently a senior IRS officer visited my house in connection with his daughter’s doctoral research and asked me a straight question as to how come I have settled in such a remote corner of the city and much to his embarrassment my straight answer was, “this is all I could afford from my earnings through honest means.”
It
has been a year since I live here and regularly go to the city for almost
everything crossing a railway under bridge en-route. In the last one year, I
have witnessed at least 15 major accidents just under the bridge as it is
perpetually water logged even during peak summers and the underlying holes and
no less than death holes. Each time I went past this death trap, I wondered who
is responsible for this. Why it is that no one is looking at it? I am sure the
area is within the jurisdiction of the municipality and I suppose the citizens
of this country elect a corporator, MLC, MLA, MP etc. and there is a budget for
such things. Well, maybe I am being naïve to expect that the system should work
on its own. The misery did not end at
that. Suddenly a month back, presumably the railway authorities erected a
structure on either side of the bridge to prevent overloaded trucks from going
past. While, one may feel that such measures are good to protect the railway
property, I am sure no authority knows what it means to the road traffic. A week back, I was on my way to drop one of
my old friends at the air port and as we approached our death trap (under
bridge) we were terrified to see that a over loaded truck carrying wooden logs
got nicely struck under the iron structure which was erected to prevent such
vehicles from going past. Now what? It was a free for all situations and a good
example of Darwin’s theory i.e. ‘survival of the fittest’. We were sure to miss
the flight and the loss associated with it did not bother us that much.
Instead, what horrified us was the sight of a stranded ambulance with a serious
patient inside. The driver was honking away continuously, the siren of the
ambulance was on full blast, the relatives were on the road pleading and
pestering but no one seemed concerned. I for a moment imagined myself inside
the ambulance gasping for breath. I tried getting out of my car to persuade the
public to make way for the ambulance but there was no space to open the door of
the car even. The ambulance remained struck for over 30 minutes before it could
make its way further. I am not sure what happened to the patient finally. This
traffic jam is a regular feature now, thanks to the railways and the traffic
cops and I continue to live with this fear of getting struck on a critical day.
Imagine,
if the traffic police did their job well what is the need for such barriers?
Could we have not saved money and precious lives? I wonder if it is such a
difficult job. Not really. I was reminded of Bhopal cantonment where I lived
for three years just before my retirement. Out there, no vehicle can dare to
violate the rules. No two wheelers can go past without the rider and the
pillion wearing a helmet. The secret is very simple and obvious. The
implementers of the rules are not gullible. There are just two jawans, one each
at the entrance and exit and the only technological intervention is a
walky-talky to communicate between them and yet the system works perfectly
round the year. I wonder why we can’t do our duty sincerely and remain content
with our salary.
I
tried imagining the state of our country if our military decided to get
corrupt. Perhaps, the officers and jawans posted at the border would be the
richest, for they could get loads of money to allow terrorists to infiltrate
and even more to escort them to safety. The naval ships can orchestrate more
piracy attacks on merchant marines. What if members of the armed forces take
bribe and allow drug consignments, counterfeit currency and many such things
into our country?
Why
should it matter to the soldiers alone as to how many lives are lost in
terrorist attacks or how much of merchant trade is lost to piracy? Whose
country is it anyway? I am sure more soldiers will start thinking like me if
the anarchy of the civil society continues for long and let me assure you my
civilian folks, the day the military gets bloody minded no one can save this
country. While you may not be in the forces, you may not be braving sub-zero
temperatures or sea state 7, please do not forget that this is as much your
country as it is ours.
As a
Naval Officer, I had several opportunities to visit some of the Arab countries
and I am mighty impressed with the law enforcement there. I never saw a traffic
cop, no dented cars, no honking, no accidents and no over speeding. How does
this work? Simple - the vehicles are tracked by radars and the fine bills reach
your home at the month end. If you do not pay up, your license is cancelled and
your vehicle is debarred from moving on the roads and finally the enforcement
agency will land at your residence to arrest you. I think we Indians have
abused democracy a bit too much!!!
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