Our daily small 'crimes'

Not a day goes by on Twitter (or in the "real" world) without somebody complaining about the deteriorating traffic situation in <insert city name>. Mumbai is no exception; it is not just that getting from one place to another takes much longer but it has become rather unsafe to drive around. When we are busy e-mailing or tweeting in the backseat of our cars, we don't really realize the latter issue. It's only when you are at the wheel (like I have been in the last 12 months) that you see how blatantly traffic rules and safe driving norms are being violated. 

Often, we tend to blame the cab / auto / bus / truck drivers for rash driving, in a classic "us vs them" argument. However, just look around and you will see that drivers of luxury cars / SUVs are as much to blame for the situation as 'those' guys. I must admit, I was also part of that problem till recently - how does it matter if you jump a traffic light when there are no other vehicles around. One morning while dropping my kids to school, I stopped at a red signal wondering if I should just go ahead; it was still early and traffic was yet to build up. My daughter exclaimed, "Why are we waiting, let's go!" I was taken aback; it was only a year ago she was reciting, "Green means Go, Yellow means Slow, Red means Stop" and today she wanted me to break that rule. What lessons was she taking from my behavior?

The question that has since vexed me was, why did I / we break the rule? There are two major reasons, I believe.

Ego

Essentially - "My work is very important and I need to get to my destination quickly. That is more important than following the rules or giving way to the other vehicles on the road."

It starts as a trickle but slowly, competitive spirit catches up and everyone's trying to get ahead. This ego is usually accompanied by disdain. "I pay so much in taxes but look at the condition of the roads. Bah! Why should I follow their rules?"

Fearlessness

It might sound cynical but I have come to believe that most of us follow rules / social norms only because of the fear of opprobrium. When society fails to punish you for your "illegalities" then you have no fear of committing them. 

Take the traffic light violation. What is the penalty for jumping a signal - I don't know what the official fine is but I would imagine that a Rs 100 payment would be sufficient to let you off. But that's not the real penalty, because the chances of getting penalized are quite low, right? Only once in a while do you notice cops pulling aside violaters. The probability of getting caught are low, I'd say, no more than one in ten lights jumped. So, if you assign the probability factor, your daily penalty for committing an illegality is Rs 10. Compared to your daily fuel expenses of Rs 100 - 200, this penalty is a very small addition to your cost of travel.

What if the chances of getting caught increased dramatically, perhaps by the use of technology / traffic cameras, to 50% or even 100%? And the fine is now Rs 200 because you cannot bribe your way out. The cost of the illegality is now Rs 100 or even Rs 200 per day, a significant number that might deter many from jumping the light. 


While ego causes some people to violate rules, it is this fearlessness that prompts almost everyone to commit illegalities. And it does not just stop with traffic lights. Once we start getting away with our small 'crimes', what's stopping us from moving to the next bigger one? Our importance and our invincibility keeps getting reinforced till, of course, we are brought to the ground with a great thud!

Finally, we must, yes, speak about all the scams, corruption and crime out there, but the next time when the traffic light turns red, also think of the crime we are about to commit.


PS. It is not a valid excuse that your driver jumped the traffic light while you were busy reading this blog-post. It is your car; take responsibility.

The Jugaad problem

Innovation in India has always been about overcoming constraints. And it has led to several success stories and accolades. Some have called this 'jugaad' - a word that is apt for the situation but has slightly negative connotations. Jugaad, generally, gives an impression of side-stepping the problem or finding additional resources - in a clever manner - to achieve one's goals. The problem with jugaad is that, often, it does not address the underlying issue (or constraint) that led to the problem in the first place. So, there's no guarantee that the problem will not recur. Or create new problems in its wake. But, in the short term, there's action and it appears all's well.

Two incidents prompted me to lament on Twitter today that India's becoming a jugaad nation, in a negative sense. The first one is my pet peeve of traffic in Mumbai.

Twice in three days, I experienced the same situation. We were driving on one of the 'highways' that connect various parts of Mumbai. For some unknown reason, we saw traffic jammed up ahead. Vehicles were turning around; some crossed over to the opposite side and were trying to move forward. Most others drove straight back towards the previous intersection - to find an alternative route. I told my driver to stay put and figure out what was happening but we were in a sea of vehicles wanting to go in the opposite direction. So, we joined them and after a lot of maneuvering and honking and scrapping, found a service road. This road was also jammed by now. Thirty minutes later we joined the highway, perhaps a hundred metres ahead of the original jam. The traffic appeared to be flowing smoothly. Whatever had caused the initial problem had sorted itself out. It was just impatience on the part of some drivers and the consequent jugaad of finding some short-cuts that created new traffic jams elsewhere. In a strange coincidence, almost the same incident played out twice this week.

The second 'incident' was really a few discussions that I've had recently, online and offline about the lack of capacity creation in India. Demand growth is dramatic; competitive intensity is increasing. The focus is on serving the demand but this is (often) not accompanied by investments in developing talent, creating systems and empowering people. Every time we hear a horror story of poor customer service - usually from the biggest brands, in telecom, banking, media or retail, we wonder what's causing this? And can this growth be sustained without investing for the long term (at the cost of short term profits / returns)?

Maybe I am low on confidence about the India story (not the opportunity, mind you) after all that's happening around. If I am unduly worried, let me know and boost my confidence. :-) If not, still, we must keep the faith as SamK reminded me and work at this problem resolutely.

You cannot treat a fracture with lots of Band-Aids, but you cannot become a doctor overnight either.