India on the move. No better place to see that in all its splendour than
a road junction. You will know for sure if India is shining, whining, or pining away. It doesn't matter which junction you
choose, for they all have in them the intricate Indianness.
We take decisions at crossroads, and our lives are nothing but an experience
of our decisions. And, that's why an Indian road junction can also be very educative. We see there a revelation of human character,
a ground reality that determines if you feel good or not.
A group people wait to cross the road. They look up and find that
lights for pedestrian crossing is red. But we are a nation on the move. Suddenly time is precious at the junction. We can't
spare even a couple of minutes for the light to turn green. Cross the road. Who cares.
Now, the pedestrian lights have turned green. But, there aren't
any pedestrians to cross the road. For all have gone across already. As the traffic light is red, the vehicles aren't moving
either. The tranquillity is breathtaking. Feel good.
The lights for the traffic turn green. Almost simultaneously,
the driver in the car seventh in the queue blares the horn. Time is precious for him too. Every second matters. It seems any
moment he will crash through the vehicles ahead of him. The horn is deafening. Who cares.
The vehicles finally move. And, our driver friend has a smile
on his face. For he feels that by blaring the horn he has woken up the dozen drivers ahead of him, and got India on the move
again. Feel good.
One vehicle takes a left turn. But the driver abruptly applies
brakes, because there are pedestrians almost halfway across the road. The pedestrian lights are actually red. Who cares.
The vehicle almost comes to a halt: so too the vehicles behind
it, clogging the traffic almost. Meanwhile, our friends amble across the road peacefully. Enjoy the freedom our country offers.
Feel good.
There is suddenly a crowd of people at the junction. It turns
out that a movie screening has got over. They are back to reality from a world of make-believe. A man in the crowd, probably
in his thirties, and apparently well bred and educated, has just quenched his thirst with a cup of soft drink. But so caught-up
with real-life he is, that he has no time or willingness to search for a bin (that anyway isnt far off) to drop the cup. Just
throw it by side of the pavement. Who cares.
His thirst is gone. With the cup too gone, he can hold the packet
that he is carrying more comfortably. Feel good.
Anatole France, French author and winner of 1921 Nobel Prize for Literature,
said, "A person is never happy except at the price of some ignorance."
Feel good. Who cares!
