Why do we tolerate stupid and corrupt people?
When chaos ruled Gurgaon’s messy streets.
A few days back, chaos reigned supreme in Gurgaon (now called Gurugram), where I live. The next day, people treated us to visuals of the flooded streets of Gurgaon, showing expensive cars drowning in the rising water, or garbage floating along the surface of the rising tide, only to be gently deposited on the streets when the waters subsided.
People posted so many images of disasters.
Others posted images of bridges collapsing in various parts of India. I have a problem with such images for one reason: we see pictures of bridges collapsing, flooded roads, leaking stadiums, and airports every year. Anyone collecting these images or tracking them will wonder and ask if these disasters form part of an annual ritual in India. We have reached a point where politicians and municipal officials don’t even bother to acknowledge the destruction, unless an election is around the corner.
When elections approach, our Prime Minister sheds a glycerin tear in states where his party governs, and belches fire in opposition-run states. Nothing matters anymore unless it brings you closer to an election victory.
We are running in the wrong race.
We talk about overtaking China, and we overtake China in every sphere except those where global leadership matters. We are running the wrong race, seeking global leadership in creating disasters.
However, if we, the ‘junta’, are stupid, indifferent, and willing to allow the perfidy of politicians and officials to blind us, then we must blame only ourselves. If you don’t hold elected officials accountable, then they will assume they can do anything, and adopt the mannerisms (but not the dignity) of royalty.
The drive to my son’s office.
That night, I drove to my son’s office to retrieve him and bring him home. The traffic moved slower than a snail, enabling me to make some videos, except near his office. The water near his workplace almost reached my car window, and I knew that the only way I could take the car safely to my destination was to keep my foot pressed on the accelerator without letting up. I was lucky — no one blocked my path as I neared my destination. I also had the car window slightly open, knowing that, if the electronics failed, I would not be able to open my window and risk suffocation.
Get Rajiv Chopra’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
You may like to watch my short video. Click this link.
About fifteen years ago, Bombay (Mumbai) experienced thirty-six inches of rain, and many people suffocated in their cars. I always keep a car hammer in the car, as well as a small torch. Anyone not prepared for disaster in India is a fool.
I am a lucky soul.
I am lucky to have learned to drive with a Premier Padmini car, as well as an Ambassador. I was in my twenties when I borrowed money and bought a black second-hand Premier Padmini (we called it the Fiat). The car was rare, one of the few with a floor-shift gear and an air-conditioner that refused to work.
Driving those cars on Delhi’s flooded streets was terrifying, and I learned to maneuver the vehicle through the rising waters, watching other drivers flapping their hands in despair as their cars stalled. We were lucky to have roll-down windows — no fear of an electronics malfunction putting you at risk of suffocation.
If you demand accountability, mirror the behavior you expect.
Most people who learn to drive a car do not bother about essential safety precautions, and scoff when I inform them I have a hammer and torch. People in India are undisciplined, and this has worsened over the intervening years.
When I started driving, we had — probably — less than one-fifth of the cars we have today. People restricted their transgressions to breaking traffic lights and speeding.
Now, they speed, break lights, weave in and out of traffic, drive the wrong way, reverse their vehicles, park in the middle of the road, and make ninety-degree turns when the mood strikes them. Worse, they believe this behavior is their God-given right and that screeching ‘Jai Shri Ram’ forgives them of every crime.
These people believe that ‘Jai Shri Ram’ allows them to break traffic rules even when the January fog reduces visibility or when the monsoon rains. Rational thought is beyond the ability of such people.
The title of this post asks a question: Why do we tolerate stupid and corrupt people? If our behavior mirrors that of our elected politicians and appointed officials, then what can we expect from them?
We love to point fingers at others, whine, and move on. Life flows like a polluted stream to a polluted ocean. First, we must correct our behavior, and then demand accountability from politicians and officials.
