[Screwdriva]

Its quite amazing how one experience can lead to such a passionate discussion.

Regretably, the only way to feed these VIPs humble pie is to gather in numbers. Even if all the TBHP contributors of this topic had magically & suddenly appeared at the time of this confrontation, I guarantee the VIP who cut me off would have apolgized to us and not the other way around.

Sadly, this may remain fantasy for as long as I live. I mean, how many times have you stopped to help someone in trouble, really?

Most Indians are either too passive/afraid/submissive to do anything but go along with the herd OR are too engrossed with their own micro lives to do anything to improve the macro situation.

VIPs will always be able to bully their way over the righteous and the innocent till that day comes. Till then, I'll do my best to give these guys a decent fight back

[carzone]

I just happen to recollect one incident where I was not a victim but a live witness!

Happened to travel by TMT(Thane Municipal Transport) buses on my way to college. One fine day when returning from the college by bus, I happened to grab my favourite seat, the one just beside the driver. While on the Ghodbunder road, just before the toll plaza, the bus met with an accident with a Innova that belonged to some politician.

The bus was climbing the slope and hence was going a bit slow and was in the rightmost lane. The innova overtook from the left and was about to come in the right lane again, when the driver of the innova missed his judgment and the rear of the innova hit the front left of the bus and the bumper and tail light of the innova broke apart. The damage was not much severe (the bumper could be easily re-fixed and tail light assembly would have to be replaced), but then what followed just left me shocked!

The innova pulled up and the bus driver also stopped in the rightmost lane. 4-5 men from the innova get down and come towards the bus and force the driver down. The driver was trying to speak to them but all in vain. The men started hitting the driver. 2 men came up in the bus and pulled the conductor on the road and started hitting him too! Just then another car of the same convoy came and joined in. They took the driver's and conductor's badge, all the money they had and abused them and shot off!

We commuters in the bus couldn't do anything out of fear the way they were hitting them and this happened in matter of minutes. After they left, we brought both of them in the bus, gave them water and told them to call the police. We had noted down the number of the car and then complained to the police. Just then another bus of the same transport came and the other driver had a talk with this one and we were shifted into that bus to continue our journey. The conductor requested us to board the bus and asked 2 of us to stay behind till the police arrived. I was requested to board the bus as I was a student at that time and police matters could be time consuming.
I don't know what happened after that but I seriously wish these goons are caught and punished.

I don't know what else I could have done, but now thinking of that episode, if I and some other people from the bus would have got in then the poor guys could have been saved from the thrashing. These goons hit them up for no fault of theirs. Their driver had missed the judgment of the car and the bus had not sped up and was moving at a constant speed. In the process of cutting in the bus, the innova damaged itself and the price had to be paid by the poor driver and conductor!

If you guys have some views of what could be done in such a situation, that could be real helpful and can save some other people.

EDIT: The bus driver was trying to apologize but then too those people didn't listen and continued hitting him!

[raj_5004]

Originally Posted by carzone

I just happen to recollect one incident where I was not a victim but a live witness!

............

If you guys have some views of what could be done in such a situation, that could be real helpful and can save some other people.

EDIT: The bus driver was trying to apologize but then too those people didn't listen and continued hitting him!

There are 2 sides to the above story -

Fault of the bus driver - Why was he in the right most lane? Especially when his bus was getting slow because of the incline. Doesn't he know that heavy vehicles are supposed to stick the the left or middle lane? That was his arrogance of driving a TMT bus.

Fault of the Innova driver - I understand that he may have been forced to overtake from the left but he should have been more cautious while cutting to the right lane. It is clearly his fault here according to Indian driving conditions.

Now, was the Innova flashing or honking this bus driver for a long time? Maybe that could have happened. And then when this bus was slowing down and dint give him way, he was forced to overtake from the left. And it may also have happened that the bus driver dint give him way or slow down enough to allow the Innova to come to the right lane. That frustration could have caused anxiety which in turn caused the accident. And then, the EGOS if these politicos caused the brawl.

Anyways, whatever be the case, hitting the driver is not justified at all. And by the way, why hit the poor conductor? He had nothing to do with this accident...

[damanshaheed]

I was driving on the Outer Ring Road on the stretch from Mukarba Chowk to ISBT when a white fortuner with red light and siren came up behind me. It was late in the evening and though no intention of not giving way, due to traffic this guy was on my tail for some minutes with his siren blaring. The moment I got space, I let him through. This idiot came adjacent to me and cut me off for no reason. To avoid him, I almost crushed a poor biker who was on my left, but controlled the situation because of the above average driving skills that I have been blessed with. To top it, another safari who was the escort for the fortuner, zipped inches past me from the right. Considering the fact that I myself drive a safari and if they can intimidate me, God knows the plight of smaller cars.

My instant reaction was to throw down a gear and catch up, but since my wife and kids were with me, good sense prevailed and I realised the futility of the whole thing.

The fortuner's reg# was PUP 1, how appropriate......

[apachelongbow]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Greed and blind acquisitiveness rule. Might is Right. All else is secondary. We seem to be doomed in this way. India had become a horrible place with horrible people it seems.

This was always how India was. Nothing new here. We can never be as civil or sensible as a Western democracy. Too many people always makes life cheap and breeds a contempt for all powerless and have nots.

For people who have money, power or both India is the best place in the world! I have heard a kid of such influential politican actually quote "India is the best place in this world! Where else would you get the freedom to do anything and get away with it" Disgusting!!

[mempheS.D]

Originally Posted by damanshaheed

The fortuner's reg# was PUP 1, how appropriate......

OT but I can't stop myself from saying this and feel good ranting. a PUP is the kid of a DOG. So, KUDOS to the RTO for getting it right for once.

[carzone]

Originally Posted by raj_5004

Fault of the bus driver - Why was he in the right most lane? Especially when his bus was getting slow because of the incline. Doesn't he know that heavy vehicles are supposed to stick the the left or middle lane? That was his arrogance of driving a TMT bus.

Agreed that the bus driver was also at fault by driving in the rightmost lane and as is the case, most of the drivers stick to the rightmost lane. I also have observed that many a times, vehicles do not wait for the heavy vehicles to give side and overtake from the left. Hence the case can be that the bus driver may not have got a chance to get to the left.
This is the case with most of the buses I have traveled in and they always tend to keep the right lane. Hence they are at fault going by this case.

Originally Posted by raj_5004

Fault of the Innova driver - I understand that he may have been forced to overtake from the left but he should have been more cautious while cutting to the right lane. It is clearly his fault here according to Indian driving conditions.

Now, was the Innova flashing or honking this bus driver for a long time? Maybe that could have happened. And then when this bus was slowing down and dint give him way, he was forced to overtake from the left. And it may also have happened that the bus driver dint give him way or slow down enough to allow the Innova to come to the right lane.

I don't think so that the innova was flashing or honking because as all other vehicles going from the left, this innova also overtook from the left. Till I recollect, I could not hear any honks before the accident (not very sure though). Going by the attitude of those people, I don't think they would have even bothered to honk or might know why there's a flashing system on the roads. From my point of observation, the bus driver neither slowed down nor sped up. The left lane, where the innova was, was fairly empty and he could have easily got a bit more ahead and then cut in.

Originally Posted by raj_5004

Anyways, whatever be the case, hitting the driver is not justified at all. And by the way, why hit the poor conductor? He had nothing to do with this accident...

As I was saying, and this has been suggested by the members here, that always apologize and move on when involved in a case with these politicians, the driver was trying to apologize but was not listened to. What could be done when these people do not want to listen and start a brawl! This could be the case with one of us too!
the conductor was not giving them the money and so they hit him up too. The money was collected from the tickets and its the conductor's duty to report the money as per tickets sold at the end of the day. He was just trying to do his job.

Originally Posted by damanshaheed

My instant reaction was to throw down a gear and catch up, but since my wife and kids were with me, good sense prevailed and I realised the futility of the whole thing.

You did the right thing by letting them go and not wasting your time arguing with them and spoiling yours as well as your family's mood.

Originally Posted by damanshaheed

The fortuner's reg# was PUP 1, how appropriate......

Originally Posted by mempheS.D

OT but I can't stop myself from saying this and feel good ranting. a PUP is the kid of a DOG. So, KUDOS to the RTO for getting it right for once.

PUP 1. Seems a special number and I wonder what made him choose this number. Does he himself consider a PUP!

[AbhishekB86]

You're not alone then. I hope this never happens to you again but if it does, I hope my vehicle is just behind yours.

With all due respect to the members and their experience, I don't think backing off is the best solution. Don't get me wrong I know we have families and we need to keep our safety in mind.

But if we don't who will? Indians jumped into Anna Hazare's agitation against corruption. Why do we need a messiah to come along? We as a society aren't ready to take the first step but we want a better country.

Our cities aren't safe for women. How many of us react when a girl is eve teased? As long as its not happening to us, its okay.

These bafoons act the way they do because they know that we won't raise our voice against them. Its not about the roads but in general about our Society. We find bullying acceptable. Remember the bully is a bully unless he's countered. You'll find him running away the moment you raise your voice.

Everytime people have come together and raised their voice these cowards run for cover. Be it Jessica Lal case or any other.

I was part of the agitation at Sahara Mall post the Sahara Mall rape case and you should have seen how 50 of us were making the cops sit up and take notice. Hell we even walked to the bar where the lady worked and put up our posters there.

Change will come if we try. We can continue believing that it won't happen to us. Maybe it wont, but there's a good chance it will.

Originally Posted by Screwdriva

Sadly, this may remain fantasy for as long as I live. I mean, how many times have you stopped to help someone in trouble, really?

Most Indians are either too passive/afraid/submissive to do anything but go along with the herd OR are too engrossed with their own micro lives to do anything to improve the macro situation.

VIPs will always be able to bully their way over the righteous and the innocent till that day comes. Till then, I'll do my best to give these guys a decent fight back

[joslicx]

Arent there any such VIPs as members of this forum? I am sure there must be some.

Would love to read their (point of) views on this thread.

[pavan15]

Originally Posted by AbhishekB86

You're not alone then. I hope this never happens to you again but if it does, I hope my vehicle is just behind yours.

With all due respect to the members and their experience, I don't think backing off is the best solution. Don't get me wrong I know we have families and we need to keep our safety in mind.

But if we don't who will? Indians jumped into Anna Hazare's agitation against corruption. Why do we need a messiah to come along? We as a society aren't ready to take the first step but we want a better country.

Our cities aren't safe for women. How many of us react when a girl is eve teased? As long as its not happening to us, its okay.

These bafoons act the way they do because they know that we won't raise our voice against them. Its not about the roads but in general about our Society. We find bullying acceptable. Remember the bully is a bully unless he's countered. You'll find him running away the moment you raise your voice.

Everytime people have come together and raised their voice these cowards run for cover. Be it Jessica Lal case or any other.

I was part of the agitation at Sahara Mall post the Sahara Mall rape case and you should have seen how 50 of us were making the cops sit up and take notice. Hell we even walked to the bar where the lady worked and put up our posters there.

Change will come if we try. We can continue believing that it won't happen to us. Maybe it wont, but there's a good chance it will.

Absolutely agree with you - no point backing off and letting things be. I don't think they are entitled in any way to belittle other road users and have their way. Also for all practical purposes its we non-VIP people who diligently pay our taxes, enable them to drive on these very roads in the first place. Having said that unfortunately we seem to have lost our sense of courtesy and humility in the mad rush of commercial interests. Change will come about - but it needs to start now and with us.

Simple things are learning up the basics of who can lawfully reprimand you on the road, your recourse to legal action and standing firm will deter any hardcore VIP or their people from harassing you. Another advantage in our side is the fact that we are non VIP. VIPs of any kind shun negative publicity and would not like to take any issue beyond a point. We need to use that as a weapon. When will this media come to our use? Having such a news hungry media is not a curse afterall?

[ambivalent_98]

Some member may have pointed this out earlier , there are some folk who drive SUVs with dark tints , loud horns, flags to indicate their alleigance to some political group. They are some local small time politicians who move around with 2-3 henchmen. They might now even be elected members but are close to someone of the sort. They show a lot of attitude and driving an SUV means they intimidate people by the sheer size of the vehicle. Fortunately I have not had any incident with any VIP but have had many incidents with these pseudo VIPs.
On the humorous side I have learned to drive the Hyderabadi way. Keep a face devoid of feelings, show no anger no remorse. Break a traffic rule or teach the rudies a lesson by giving them back what they have done and just don't react. Reaction whatsoever causes more words / actions. Just break the rule and get away with it. Others do and the cops don't care a hoot.

[yjagota]

I think that almost everybody from Delhi/NCR has witnessed something like this or the other. I have myself seen many because of being a regular traveler in Ghaziabad, but one sticks out.

Not too long ago, I was travelling from Ghaziabad to Delhi via NH-58. Almost at the end of Ghaziabad, there is a river called Hindon. There are two bridges on Hindon for either side of the 4 laned traffic, but one side, which leads from Ghaziabad to Delhi, has only a two lane bridge. This causes severe traffic jams almost daily on the way to Delhi and sometimes it takes more than an hour to travel one kilometer till passing the bridge in full.

On one such fateful day, an ambulance driver who was really in a hurry, and by the look on the people inside the van, very rightly so, decided to cross the bridge from the wrong side. I know he was wrong to begin with, but given the jams and the responsibility to save somebody's life, I won't say he took a wrong decision.

He was driving very slowly, on the extreme left corner with a budging siren, so almost everybody gave him way easily without any problems. The other side's traffic is normally very thin. When the Ambulance was about to reach the bridge, a VIP Scorpio swirled from the opposite corner to stop the Ambulance. The scorpio was so far from the ambulance that it stopped at almost a 90 degree angle in front of it. 4 guys got out of the vehicle, very clearly drunk and carrying weapons, and forced the driver out of the ambulance and started beating him. Nobody intervened, not even the regular policemen always posted at the entrance of the nearby bypass. When the guys were done with him, the driver who was carrying a patient, was almost a patient himself. This also caused a jam like situation on the other side too. There were almost 100 spectators, but no one tried to stop them and that included me too. I feel sorry for that driver and for all the people surrounding the scene including myself that none of us had the courage to help the driver.

All the guys were shouting at the driver that how come he was driving at the wrong side of the road without having any possibility of even coming in one meter distance to the ambulance. There was no provocation, no reason or authority to be moral police, just the need to show power. Although I am a person who refrains from any violence and stays as far as I can from fights, that day, given the circumstances, I would have loved if the gathered crowd must have beaten those a**holes to death.

After all the drama, the guys got back in the scorpio and left. The policemen now come forward and start to disperse the crowd and the traffic. I don't know what came of the driver or the patient but that was a very sad incident indeed.

[selfdrive]

Originally Posted by yjagota

All the guys were shouting at the driver that how come he was driving at the wrong side of the road without having any possibility of even coming in one meter distance to the ambulance. There was no provocation, no reason or authority to be moral police, just the need to show power. Although I am a person who refrains from any violence and stays as far as I can from fights, that day, given the circumstances, I would have loved if the gathered crowd must have beaten those a**holes to death.

The most important reaction here is of the first two people in a crowd. I have seen situations where one person starts beating up such a goon/ moron, but it stays a 1:1 fight if a second person doesnt join in.
When the second person does join in, it becomes a free for all and more from the crowd usually join in. behti ganga mein haath dhonewaala syndrome. translated to wash your hands when the river flows. I guess its the safety of being unrecognisable in a crowd.

and if these guys are drunk anyway, they would not remember who thrashed them as long as all of them are thrashed.

it is also similar to an accident situation. if only one person helps, others keep looking around. but if a seconf person joins in, then others pitch in. not sure what this can be attributed to.
maybe this is why we dont join in fights when travelling with family. but when we are with friends, we are likelier to pitch in. just my 2 cents worth.

[aaggoswami]

Two incidences that I recall.

1) In A'bad. Visited one college for my PG education. Just outside the college compound a 7 series arrived along with two Toyota Camry and one Innova. The 7 series was parked perpendicular to college wall, the camry(ies) were parked on either side of the beemer and Innova dead in front of beemer. This way the road was blocked by around 50%. There were 3 guards roaming around beemer and toyota.
When I was there to park Baleno ( I had to move Baleno from earlier place due to construction work going on there ), I had little space to move. Asked them to move Innova so that I could cross, but to no avail. Somehow managed to squeeze through ( with all three of them staring at me as if I were a criminal ) and then parked Baleno in parallel to one Camry.

A verbal fight broke out. I clearly told them that taking wrong stuff is not my cup of tea. When they did not subside, I openly challenged them for fight and cops. Just then the VIP arrived. That VIP is a very big businessman in A'bad. I gave him a damn. My only request was that after fight, no external influence ( read hired goons ) should be brought in, other than that, I was open to fight. A crowd gathered and guys, crowd is one thing these VIPs are scared off. The security guards quickly vanished after concluding that it was Misunderstanding.

2) Again for parking. I had parked M800 under electric cables, so it was not any property of an individual. Neither was I blocking any approach, but still one politician goon came by and asked me to move as it was in front of his shop ( his car had some political party sticker ). I clearly showed him its under public electric line and its legal, and in any case it was not blocking his approach. He argued my parking M800 leads to inconvenience to his customers. Irritated, I openly told him to do whatever he wanted. Few threats later, I took out an iron fabricated unit that I was carrying in M800 ( had gone to that place for fabrication only ) and almost hit him. He was really really scared. Screamed at him that I was to visit his shop for business only for fabrication. This calmed him down, fabrication mod done easily!.


A few points :

• These VIP are really scared of public gathering, specially when things get violent.
• They are the lost which is most scared if they are alone, this includes the security guards they carry. When they are alone, their language and behavior changes.

[karan86]

Happened in 2008, me and a couple of friends were in my friends palio gtx driving back from marine drive to andheri well past midnight, it was july and as always the highway was infested with potholes, at the curve before sahara star there were some deep potholes while the section before that was invitingly fast.
my friend was doing about a 100 clicks and he braked for the pothole in the rightmost lane.what followed was some screeching and a thud on our car..after we parked, saw these 4 men coming out of a CLS with airbags open and the sides scraped and the front end fairly damaged.the men following the CLS in a gypsy got down and were about to thrash us, when the man who was driving the CLS got out and so lightly said,"Happens in Bombay".they were about to leave when my friend asked who would for the damage to his palio, the guy driving the CLS patted my friend and gave him his card, he said lets pay for the damages for each others cars and left in an accent that was in his convoy.i later told my friend that he could buy perhaps 25 palios for one CLS that is when his gujarati smile came through to say,reva de damage.