Times of India had been going on and on about compassion and culminated it with compassion day on the 28th of June. I decided to do my bit towards it. They defined compassion as knowing about your daily help more, like their names(!), family details etc. etc.. I already knew the life history of all the domestic help in our complex, might be a bit too much to the comfort of my purse. So how do I make a difference?
I was driving that day and suddenly I decided to be compassionate on the road. Bad idea, you say? Well, let me give you a first-hand account of what happens when you are compassionate on the roads of Hyderabad. I started off by deciding not to honk. For those outside India, this might not seem a big deal, but it is in India. I managed couple of minutes. Then, suddenly the bike next to me started veering into my lane without a glance in my direction. I had to honk to let him know of my presence. Phew, a major disaster averted. Well, it was not my fault that I had to honk, right? So I am not breaking my pledge, right?
Next, there was a pedestrian trying to cross the road. Time for my second act of compassion. I stopped to allow her to pass, but she wasn't even looking in my direction. She was in the middle of the lane and not even looking at the traffic coming her way!!!!! The vehicles behind me got angry at my unscheduled stop. I had to move trying to avoid the pedestrian, by honking!!!
Then, there was this junction manned by a traffic cop. He stopped our lane and was in my line of vision. I gestured encouragingly at him, trying to be compassionate. He stared at me and started moving towards me, I think he wanted to write me a challan. I didn't wait for confirmation, just drove away.
So, roads of Hyderabad are not the place to be compassionate. I went shopping and tried to be nice to the shopkeeper, but he looked at me suspiciously. I think he thought I was out to steal or cheat him of something. Every place I went and tried to be friendly and compassionate, I was met with either blank stares or suspicious looks. It made me think, might be the city is not ready for compassion.
I was driving that day and suddenly I decided to be compassionate on the road. Bad idea, you say? Well, let me give you a first-hand account of what happens when you are compassionate on the roads of Hyderabad. I started off by deciding not to honk. For those outside India, this might not seem a big deal, but it is in India. I managed couple of minutes. Then, suddenly the bike next to me started veering into my lane without a glance in my direction. I had to honk to let him know of my presence. Phew, a major disaster averted. Well, it was not my fault that I had to honk, right? So I am not breaking my pledge, right?
Next, there was a pedestrian trying to cross the road. Time for my second act of compassion. I stopped to allow her to pass, but she wasn't even looking in my direction. She was in the middle of the lane and not even looking at the traffic coming her way!!!!! The vehicles behind me got angry at my unscheduled stop. I had to move trying to avoid the pedestrian, by honking!!!
Then, there was this junction manned by a traffic cop. He stopped our lane and was in my line of vision. I gestured encouragingly at him, trying to be compassionate. He stared at me and started moving towards me, I think he wanted to write me a challan. I didn't wait for confirmation, just drove away.
So, roads of Hyderabad are not the place to be compassionate. I went shopping and tried to be nice to the shopkeeper, but he looked at me suspiciously. I think he thought I was out to steal or cheat him of something. Every place I went and tried to be friendly and compassionate, I was met with either blank stares or suspicious looks. It made me think, might be the city is not ready for compassion.
Poor you! It seems it is you that need all the compassion in the world for your efforts!
ReplyDeleteWell, I guess your idea of compassion is somewhat different, so it could not be appreciated. If you had loosened your purse, or showed compassion in materialistic terms, there would have been better reception. Better luck, next time. Till then, as rightly pointed out, you are the one that deserves the compassion...
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