‘Software & Networking’ are synonymous with new age India, but we have no such support for our law enforcers!!!

Our techies help develop some of the finest technological marvels worldwide, yet what baffles me is the lack of it when it comes to traffic management in our country. There have been several pilots and tests conducted in the past, but no large scale deployments to brag home about. 3 major areas where technology can help:

• Automated traffic lights and pedestrian crossing
• Automatic system to document and penalize traffic breakers
• GPS based tracking system to track down high speed vehicles and those who jump signals

Before I delve deeper into the nuances of what I have listed above, let me reiterate 2 critical points that form the foundation of this article:

• Underlying Assumption: The successful implementation of all automation and collection of penalty depends on the assumption that there are still a host of officers who do not fall prey to the temptation that we subject them to. And I have no qualms in accentuating the word “we”
• A heart warming incident: One of my friends and I were driving back from the Airport after dropping one of our colleagues. He happened to jump the signal at MG Road and off came the policemen to penalize us for our uncivilized act. He spoke very kindly and drew our attention to the rate card he had in his hand specifying the fine for the mistake committed. It read INR 100 for jumping the signal. After verifying the license, he took out a PDA and then entered the mistake committed, vehicle and license details and then printed out a charge slip. He wished us good night and reminded us to drive safely. As much as I was ashamed of the mistake we just committed, I was delighted at the whole experience and professionalism at display. Something I can say with confidence that most of us have not been subjected to. I am sure many of you would even be surprised to read about this experience.
o In the past, many a policemen have subjected the common man to various levels of torture for a minor in-discipline. The ulterior motive of these acts were the benefits that came with such acts of “toture”, most of which were based on the ignorance of comman man and the fear factor around the uniform and position the latter had. Your “fee without receipt” varied based on how gullible you were. A year back, one of my cousins paid Rs 500 without receipt for jumping the signal. She was told that she jumped the signal, had shown in-discipline in not listening to the traffic police and so on and on and had to pay Rs 1,000 with a challan. However, he was ready to offer her a discount and charge her Rs 500 without receipt. Hmmmm… guess we have all seen shop-keepers who offer their products without bill at a lesser price as it does not include the value added tax component. This was a variant of that. Some of our traffic keepers made personal money from the traffic breakers in place of what should be going into the country’s exchequer.

Solutions

But, the large part of our traffic police who are committed to improving the traffic mess, can do with some much needed technical help in managing traffic.

Automated traffic lights and pedestrian crossing: (Learning from the west)

We do have automated traffic lights in some places in India, but these do not function at most times and are not coordinated, as a result of which travelers are subjected to numerous combinations as against some sustained period of free flowing traffic. Further, traffic lights are constantly tampered with by regional police officers who have their own formulas to traffic management. Some of them have shorter but more frequent signal shifts while some others let the traffic flow from one side for a sustained period of time before switching on to the latter. From experience, I can tell you that the former works far better in congested cities with smaller by-lanes as a longer wait clogs the by-lanes with vehicles and the commotion is further compounded by the peak morning/evening pedestrian population. Since the traffic at various points is manually stopped by the police to help the pedestrians cross, it creates further stops which are not picked up elsewhere. An automated traffic system, much like the west would go a long way in managing some of our traffic woes

• Re-schedule, automate and link traffic lights with pedestrian crossing based on zones
• Increase the height of road dividers so that people don’t cross roads at multiple points. Introduce more sky-ways for people to cross roads so as to not hamper traffic movement
• Pedestrian crossings with automated switches- When pedestrians approach a zebra crossing, they can press a button which would streamline traffic and provide for a zone when they can cross the road at a green light.

Automatic system to document and penalize traffic breakers

Like the western countries, we should also implement a system whereby drivers are penalized for their mistakes in various forms:

• On achieving “n” number of minor mistakes, the driver has to attend a refresher course or undertake some sort of charity work
• On achieving “n” number of major mistakes, a cancellation or suspension of license for a fixed tenure
• Categorization of mistakes based on the risk associated

To deploy the same however, we would need a serious commitment from the state governments by way of budgetary allocation in the creation of a centralized database and deployment of software and related hardware like PDAs with local police officers.

GPS based tracking system to track down high-speed vehicles and those who jump signals

GPS based tracking systems have reached high levels of sophistication in a very short period of time. These systems could be used to track down high speed vehicles and input on to local police stations. They could also be used to classify zones with higher rates of accidents. The Police could then implement additional transport management systems to track these high accident zones closer.

Instead of being at logger heads with the local governments and police force and pushing them to roll out more fly-overs, our IT honchos should look at contributing to easing our traffic mess with the help of their own core competency- software development and network management.

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What a shame!!! Is someone listening?

Over the last 6 months, most drivers fret at the idea of stopping at traffic signals in Bangalore. Eunuchs run helter-skelter harassing every vehicle that stops at the traffic signal. While most car drivers roll the windows up and save themselves, countless bike riders and auto rickshaws that are not privy to some of the benefits of the latter are subjected to some really awkward moments.

While the traffic police looks on, these eunuchs demand money from drivers and passengers alike. They harass them when they are not given what according to them is rightfully theirs. Some of these drivers are physically abused while others are harassed with the eunuchs running their hands over their body and making it highly uncomfortable for these drivers in front of co-passengers.

The root cause for this growing social menace is:

• At some level and in some places there ought to be a nexus between the law enforcers and the law breakers in terms of percentage earnings being shared
• Social taboo- This is a bit of utter nonsense that I heard from people. Apparently in certain communities, Eunuchs are called home for special functions like House warming, kids naming festival and so on. They are paid handsome amounts to visit the house in the name of being a good omen. Man- how ridiculous can our traditions get? Does that mean all houses where eunuchs have visited have no problems at all? Problems and happiness together makes a human life. Whenever one is hit with the former, we go in search of new methods. The next time may be we should tell people, when your facing a problem just run behind a train. They will atleast loose some calories and have little time to come up with such ridiculous ideas and support what I called social taboo fueled professions
o As this “profession” becomes more profitable, more and more people will join it as it gives quick returns with little effort. All those who believe in such outdated, age-old rituals need to remind themselves of one thing- it takes 30 minutes for a man to dress up as a woman including waxing his hands and face
• Our society is to blame for not giving them equal rights by employing them in the name of their sexual preference. We have had several meetings organized by them which has sadly found very little support from the celebrities and government alike. The reasons are all too clear- it’s a tricky topic with which no one wants to be associated with as they could be construed as a part of this minority group.

The biggest reason why they don’t find any support among our politicians who crave for reservations at the drop of a hat based on caste, community and what not, is because they are not a serious social minority that is big enough to constitute a vote bank for these politicians.

I am herein inviting suggestions on how we can bring them onto the mainstream….

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I am as much Bangalorean as anyone else for I am Indian!!!

As I was riding through one of the most common sites in Bangalore- a busy crowded lane where no-one knew or cared for whether the road was a one-way or just another way, I hit upon the most common daily events in a Bangalorean’s life- a traffic jam caused by an auto-rickshaw driver and the agony further compounded by a group of thoughtless bikers!!!

The auto-rickshaw fella came on to the opposite side to drive through a road which was good enough for 2 large sized SUVs to barely scrape through from opposite sides. He blocked the road and as is the norm blamed everyone else. He stood his ground until a 60’s something “Uncle” took the lead and gave him a piece of his mind. Many others followed suit and he drew the brunt of the ire of many a drivers and on-lookers. What amazes me is how we can throw the kitchen sink on someone else without battling an eye lid on all the mess that we contribute to. The fact that auto-rickshaws (tuk-tuks as they are called in some other South Asian economies) have scant respect for the police, the system or the people within it is a no-brainer!!! But why do we compound our own miseries by contributing to it. Cars came in from all corners blocking the road, sometimes I was left wondering if they just came in and parked themselves in between all the mess to add some more entertainment value to the on-lookers sipping coffee in the famous “Veena stores” in Malleswaram in North Bangalore. Kiran Bedi once said on television, “The only way to remove this mess is by empowering the police force. In our society- non-action lends you a promotion. We promote spinelessness and that is the biggest bane.”

There were these bikers who found any gap good enough to plant their wheels in. I joined the bandwagon and gave a mouthful to one of the contributors. I was irritated as to why these ‘educated illiterates’ have no respect for fellow drivers and how they are contributing to surmounting traffic mess. The man looked up to me and said, “ Ey, Bangalore ali Kannada ali mathadi….” For those who don’t understand what it is- it means “Speak in Kannada in Bangalore”……This is a common feature in my city. I was dumb-founded and taken aback for a moment. All this while I thought India is my country and its greatest value is the fact that we have 30 languages, over 6 religions and 4,000 odd dialects. Unity in diversity was really our virtue. But, people like Vattal Nagaraj and Raj Thackeray have sown the seeds of hatred towards people from other regions in India to such a level that today we have more and more people (surprisingly the educated class) who lay emphasis on the language you speak and the place of your birth. Take for instance the recent Maharashtra Lok Sabha polls- MNS won 100,000+ votes in all the Mumbai constituencies. And in some, they won more than the national parties.

People who belong to today’s mobile workforce spend their early years in a city, educated in another and then end up working elsewhere. For us, India is my country and every other place within it are parts of my mother land I have free access to. Yet, growingly we have a society barred by language and that is something we need ride over before it’s too late. The Uttar Pradesh elections were a good start. I was told that Rahul Gandhi selected individuals based on merit and gave little or no significance to caste. But, as a society we have a long way to go. And this my friends is not limited to only the rural or illiterate parts of the society. We all know that, and it is for us to act on it. I am quite disgruntled by this regionalism. I am a part of a group of Bangalorean’s who pay Professional tax, sales tax, service tax, property tax, road and corporation tax for all that I own and earn. I am a part of a group that has contributed to the evolution of the term- to get Bangalored and the flourishing of several related industries and professions like retail, catering, transport services and the like. Bangalore has given me everything from a great job to a house to finding my love interest. Yet, we live in a society which is divided based on the language I talk or in this case the language I cant. It is still a small number but this number seems to be growing. To me, my national language is Hindi and all that matters is to know that language (even though I was brought up in a state which did not necessarily promote Hindi) How can I be told that I can speak in Bangalore only if I talk the local language. Like many of us I am a full-scale Bangalorean- I pay tax, I live by its rules and will stay by my city!!! How can we question as to why large parts of the population in UK are against offshoring to India? In their case their work is being handled by a different country all together. In my own country, people are frustrated because I came from some other city within the same country and earn a living in another!!! That is an abjure and deplorable attitude!!! In my words, we should ban state flags, anthems and all related elements which contributes to the promotion of regionalism and focus on building the “One India” feeling and thought!!! From the head of our country (Kashmir) to the toe (Tamil Nadu), we need every single city, every single town and like the human body cannot function without any one of its parts, so cant Mother India. We were divided into states for ease of administration and management. The division should end there and like how the political pundits have been claiming for sometime now, not end up become a country of parts!!!

One of my colleagues once told me, “What’s wrong- North Indian’s call us Madrasis and brand us in a certain way no matter where we come from, so we have the rights to push them back.” What was most baffling was the elections in the apartment I live. 72 houses, all of them educated, highly qualified and at high levels of the society but what was even more common was the clear North-South divide- Last year we had a group of office bearers from down south and all there was where mistakes being picked up on how the association was run and so on by the other group….This year the vice-versa took place.

I am not trying to be a Saint here. But, all I am saying is why blame the politicians for playing the vote bank card based on caste and region, when we can’t get out of it in a small gathering of homogenous people? Why blame them for focusing on specific regions when you don’t vote or you register but don’t vote? Why let the society be filled by a worrying trend of growing clout of people with regional overtones, not that the people with religious overtones aren’t a plenty….
Look forward to your comments!!!

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Do we really need a gender discrimination bill?

As the train was thudding across the tracks, I heard a vegetarian pony-tailed 50’s something man with curd rice in his hands, talk about how admirably his wife has grown into a Director role in a Public enterprise. His wife epitomized what we call a typical “mami” down south. Clad in a saree long enough to dress a group of children who were playing cricket in the grounds we passed by, she was serving “puliyogarai” & “pickle” to a group of vegetarian erudites. She was as much a part of the group like any other typical stereotype traditional Indian house-wife would. All of them in the group were quite similar in their mannerisms- brash and loose talking, highly educated, traditional in values yet high-flying achievers in the contemporary world.
I was keenly watching 2 little kids with a clear western dialect listen to music through an I-POD. Their parents were engaged in an intense debate on how the lady’s boss never let woman grow. He was empathetically listening to his wife rant away at what might be. She was talking about the need for HR to ensure that Managers do not have too much control over selecting the next line. A pity that he did not get an I-POD to close his ears out; if it already wasn’t.
What is that old saying- “A man can be physically present while mentally elsewhere? And a woman really doesn’t care for she is present and that’s all that matters.”
“Thought stimulates action”….. this chuk-chuk ride made me introspect and dissect the words of the country’s new found “sister from the heartland”. For her, everything boiled down to reservations. Be it on the basis of caste, creed, community, gender or economic status. All that mattered was reservation and that she believed was the simple answer to life’s complicated issues. How can a reservation solve the fact that large corporations fudge balance sheets? How can a reservation solve the fact that India’s fiscal deficit has far crossed the parliament accepted threshold of 2.5%? But, still it all boils down to reservation for the new found “sister from the heartland”. Whether you’re rich or poor, whether you’re an upper or lower caste, whether you’re a man or woman really does not matter when it comes to managing the financials of our country or the people within it. What is needed is empathy towards its peoples cause, awareness and knowledge of how to manage systems and tools necessary to further people’s wishes and a leadership that empowers and directs resources to achieve this goal.
Someone told me a fascinating story of why Bangalore really ticked and why work really got Bangalored….. He said this growth had little to do with the policies of the state or the support provided within (for it was the same everywhere) and more to do with the fact the government did nothing about this growth. I quickly queried this IT achiever on what he meant by that. He went on to accentuate that the best thing that the then government did was to let the IT sector handle things on its own and grow independently, devoid of any unwanted interference from government officials barring a few press conferences to announce initiatives which have since been shelved….
And today, companies within the same IT & ITES sector are introspecting the need for a gender discrimination bill. Audacious of an industry that has enough worries ranging from recession (both dwindling volumes & spiraling costs) and offshore taxation, amongst others, to worry about arriving at a common code of employment with respect to gender discrimination.
However sexist I may sound, to me it’s suddenly making recruiters and the people involved in it, conscious of the curves an interviewee possesses as against the aptitude and attitude they posses. And what’s more? This is also means exposing yourself to a whole suite of reservation needs- ranging from caste, community to regionalism. Remember you have been pushing the Raj Thackeray’s and Vatal Nagaraj’s need for regional reservation away in the behest of maintaining an industry devoid of reservation and focused on rewarding genuine achievements and proven competencies. Being born a man or lady is no achievement and that is nature. You expose yourself to any degree of vulnerability and remember you are opening a pandoras box which has no boundaries.
If people within the industry feel that some quarters are denying people of their rightful opportunities, then they should be taken to task, as is the case with any troughs in performance. Such people need to be trained, equipped and tracked for behavioral changes and HR plays a critical role in facilitating the same. Solution does not lie in preparing a guidelines document which invariably remains in a HR Policies portal or in putting a number to it. Solution lies in the heart of it- If there is discrimination, why is it present? Because people within the system have not been necessarily gauged on how un-biased they are on various counts, before being empowered to decide the future of another individual with whom he has no pre-existing relationship (A father could always consider that at some level he does play a role in defining his daughter’s life. Hence, the clear distinction of pre-existing relationship). The issues faced in our rural areas are much more intrinsic and related to history and how our society was unscrupulously divided on the basis of caste. How can you ever expect someone who has been discriminated against for generations to vote for someone who was a part of it, albeight indirectly. That takes generations of education, empowerment and confidence to erase and re-draw.
Providing people with a higher tax exemption or lower insurance premiums because they were born woman or by running ad campaigns with the best actors have really not helped in reducing female feticide or in increasing social acceptance in select North Indian states. Education and literacy is the only solution and have proved to have a direct impact on social acceptance. India’s most literate state- Kerala with a 1,000+ female to male population is a testimony to this.
Fortunately, our industry is run by the educated. But, why they convert themselves into educated illiterates when they are stuck in a traffic signal in Bangalore or Mumbai is anybody’s guess. This educated lot has withered many a storm by maintaining their independence of thought and pushing towards competency based recruitments as against age-old reservation based systems or manager driven systems filled with bias.
To roll out a reservation system in our industry or to roll-out a 33% reservation system in the parliament would be the worst possible gift we can hand-over to a host of women achievers ranging from Condoleezza Rice to Indra Nooyi, Kiran Majumdar Shaw and a whole generation of middle class Indian woman like my sisters who have most admirably managed work and home without a battling an eye-lid.
These individuals never needed a reservation and grew on the back of their hard work and skills and not on the basis of the gender they were born into. This has inspired a generation of youngsters- both men and women to further their career graphs based on performances and not so much on being at a level within an organization structure because there was no one from that gender present at that level.

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