SUNAAD RAGHURAM recovers in the nick of time to write: Having logged more miles on the Mysore-Bangalore highway in recent times than I can manage to remember, I inevitably drove past Mandya the other day.
The blinkered vision while at the wheel, and the ensuing boredom, intermittently driven away by ‘Raaaadio 91 Efffem’, never allowed me to really take in the sights and sounds of life around, beyond the immediate ten feet of asphalt in front.
But on my way back from the City which the world thinks is the panacea for all IT-related problems, the signal turned red on the main road in Mandya, as I negotiated my way through mindlessly strolling pedestrians, dogs, pigs and cows, not to speak of a variety of vehicles whose drivers seemed to think they ancestrally owned that stretch of road since the days when the foundation stone was laid for the dam across the Cauvery in Kannambadi!
Amidst the general chaos, I noticed a man riding a two-wheeler without a helmet. “Does he not have any respect for the helmet rule,” I muttered to myself. Then I noticed another. And another. And yet another.
It didn’t take long for me to conclude that two-wheeler riders in the entire “city” were going about life without a helmet on their heads.
As you can recollect, the helmet rule came into force in the four metropolitan cities of Bangalore, Mysore, Mangalore and Hubli-Dharwad recently after much debate and discussion on the role of the metal fitment on the head in saving the skull in the event of an accident.
But by the looks of it, either the H.D. Kumaraswamy government is sure that the skull of the average ‘Mandyan’ has a reinforced cranium or the Mandyan himself thinks his brain has an extra set of neurons that scoffs at and pooh-poohs any time tested law at any given point of time.
There is surely something about the psyche of the average man on the streets of Mandya which makes him show scant regard for the rule of law. Be it not wearing a helmet or holding up the highway for hours on end for the most inane of reasons. A type of insouciance that is irritating, a kind of attitude that speaks so many things about the debased mental make-up of the citizenry in general.
It is so glaringly absurd and tragic too, that the law enforcers are turning the other way when a whole army of two wheeler riders move about town and criss-cross a dangerous highway without a helmet on their heads.
My mind goes back to the time when a childhood friend of mine did a year long stint as a civil engineer in Mandya. Tongue firmly in cheek, he once told me that he was rudely waved down by a policeman on the main road for having made the cardinal mistake of taking just one man on the pillion!
Mandya that is in India… tujhe salaam!
ps: I read somewhere that India will host a Formula Racing event some time in 2009. To paraphrase QSQTpie Juhi Chawla, ‘Kya country hai!’
24 June 2007 at 2:14 pm
hey sunaad, for all ur bollywood and 91 infestations, y on earth would u want to call the denizens of such a nice town as ones having a ‘debased’ mental makeup..they may be insouiciant to some extent but certainly not debased.. A general checkup of ur bollywood brain at nimhans may help
24 June 2007 at 3:17 pm
I don’t understand why you are blaming Mandyans for not wearing helmet when the Government has excluded them from the rule. Is it some prejudice for Mandyans ? They can’t be blamed for staging a “Sunaad Roko” agitation on the highway next time you take the road.
24 June 2007 at 3:31 pm
Guruve…
that highway is not your ancestral property too….
what makes you idiots zooming on the highway think , it is your sole property…
Be a responsible driver and slow down when you come to city limits…
Also before talking about the citizenry of mandya… you be a responsible citizen and start using public transport… atleast you will help reduce the traffic…
Ofcourse… stretch of highway in mandya is for the people of mandya to use…they are suffering accidents, delays on road… because of the highway…
Also when helmet rule is not applicable to mandya… how do you expect people to follow it… even in places where its in vogue… irked two wheeler users are demanding its withdrawal…
As for pigs, dogs, cows on road… when idiots like you ( who dont have a lilttle respect for other human beings) can use that road… why not them ???
Before starting to “salaam” Mother India, just think what contributions have you made to make it a better place… other than passing of cheap comments on others…
24 June 2007 at 4:17 pm
perhaps perhaps but dont discount that if there is any chance of anybody holding out against the imperium and its commanders messers stuck keyboardus, maximus corridorus, magnus estatus, or even crossovers like callcentrix then it is the village of the indomitable gowds.
perhaps somewhere in that forest is a doDDahottix who is tapping his head at this incongrous writing ‘these mysoreans are crazy’.
now that would be something, doDDahottix collecting helmets.
24 June 2007 at 5:37 pm
Dear Sunaad,
Your article shows your mental status than that of Mandyans!!! If you expect that people wear helmets even if it is not mandatory, then I wonder what (non)sense you have. To top it you say Mandyans have debased mental makeup. This shows status of your mental make-up than anybody else.
When people like you can drive around like a pig on the road why can’t a pig come on the road. And Sunaad, let me see how you protest when water meant for your home is diverted to somebody else and you do not have a glass of it to drink. Sarcastic people like you have damaged the interests of poor farmers who are committing suicide for lack of facilities for farming.
I pity you for infering about a community and town in such a short period of time. You are a genius!!!!! worth noble prize. Sonia Gandhi has not met you else she would have definitely selected you for the post of President of India for your great power of understanding of the situations while waiting in a signal for light to turn green!!!!!
God bless India for having such sons!!!!!
24 June 2007 at 5:58 pm
Helmet rule
thale olagade enadroo idre helmet hakkolli…
dont wait for government to implement these things…
visit any neuro institute to see “recently became cabbages” due to not wearing helmet while riding a bike…to see what helmetless ride can bring into the life of the injured…before passing nasty remarks on people…
24 June 2007 at 6:08 pm
If Sunaad had not bought a Bolero, as he has pompously claimed in one his posts on this blog, would he have willingly worn a helmet while roaming the streets of Mysore, where the helmet rule is in vogue ?
24 June 2007 at 6:12 pm
gowdre…
helmet peddling ella ok. but ‘A type of insouciance that is irritating, a kind of attitude that speaks so many things about the debased mental make-up of the citizenry in general.’ solpa moogin seettakke nungneka baedi maatre koTThaage.
writru if he went back to his tufty days would perhaps recall helmetless scootru, loona, cyclu oDsidd dinagaLu singing emme ninage saaThi illa on the streets of rashtrakavi nagara.
24 June 2007 at 7:46 pm
Sunaad …Ondhu airoplane kondkoLLree ..
Dont expect to see only tigers and elephants on the road . Take a break buddy .
24 June 2007 at 8:23 pm
Sunaad,
You are expecting too much from the people of Mandya, especially the two-wheeler drivers when you expect them to wear helmets even when it is not compulsory for them to do so.
Dheerendragopal has rightly suggested you to go in for an aeroplane!
Well said Dheerendragopal!!!
24 June 2007 at 10:24 pm
Mandyans know what is good and bad for them, and do not need a holier-than-thou guy to lecture them. It only shows your Debased mental makeup and Irritating Insouciance.
Those whose realise the value of wearing a helmet, were/are wearing helmets, irrespective of whether the rule was there or not, albeit a small percentage.
If the world thinks that Bangalore is the panacea for all IT related problems, so be it. Learn to appreciate and give credit where it is due, rather than write such sarcastic and irresponsible posts.
24 June 2007 at 11:34 pm
Sunaad,
Your observations may be valid, but not your conclusions (about Mandyans).
You have engaged in two types of logical fallacy that actually mirror each other: A “composition fallacy” where one concludes that a group possesses the characteristics of its component individuals, and a “division fallacy” where one assumes that component individuals posses the characteristics of the group.
In addition, you may have also engaged in a “post hoc, ergo propter hoc” fallacy — which translates as “after this, so because of this” — in that you conclude that because those riders were acting lawless the law is somehow responsible?
In any case, as some others have pointed out, your premise (of the helmet law in Mandya) seems to be wrong. Which means you also committed a “straw man” fallacy of criticizing folks for something that they didn’t do anyway! (violate the law)
Hope this little lesson in Western logic will be useful. I do enjoy reading your posts.
24 June 2007 at 11:39 pm
By the way, I love to see cows and pigs free on the streets.
I would hate to see them be taken off to a slaughterhouse.
25 June 2007 at 6:26 am
Dear Tarlesubba
i am not peddling helmets…
i am only requesting mandyans to wear helmets, to protect their inner contents of the head…and also protection from boleros etc!
25 June 2007 at 10:10 am
How many of you know someone who:
1. used to take two people on the pillion every evening, in spite of his father asking him not to.
2. was not regular in wearing helmet (even when it was required by the law) because he was afraid of the already thinning hair.
3. would drink and drive.
This is fairly common. I am sure you all know someone who did this. And yes, even I know at least one person who did all three. Yes, most people live in glass houses. Go figure!!!
25 June 2007 at 11:21 am
Hi Sunaad, I have couple of questions:
1. Helmet rule is application in your pet cities, i.e., Bangalore & Mysore. Rider wear helmet. What about pillion-rider? Is it that pillion rider in Bangalore or mysore “is sure that the skull of the average ‘PILLION-RIDER’ has a reinforced cranium or the PILLION-RIDER himself thinks his brain has an extra set of neurons that scoffs at and pooh-poohs any time tested law at any given point of time.”
2. I have ridden two-wheelers in Mandya -single. No police man has flagged me. Needless to say, your civil engineer’s example is idiotic.
3. If Helmet rule is taken in Bangalore or Mysore, 95% of the two-wheel riders won’t wear it. Do their brain get sudden reinforcement when the rule is taken off?
4. All along the same highway, didn’t you come across Bidadi, Ramanagara, Chennpattana, Maddur, Srirangapattana? Were they wearing helmets? Why then single out Mandya? Doesn’t this show your mental prejudice?
Helmet rule is a must for all riders (even pillion) two-wheelers – its for one those once in a lifetime situations, where an helmet would have saved your head.
Whats disappointing is your singling out Mandya. IMO, Mandya is no different than any place in this country.
Why don’t you post your comments here and clarify your stand? (in case if we have mis-understood).
25 June 2007 at 2:48 pm
kila kilaaa!! ayyayyappaaa!!
bittbiDappaa…… nam huDuganna… EnO swalpa jaasti nE haakkonDu EnO bareebEku anta baradiddaane….
swalpa tappu maaDdaa anta hingaa eggaa mugga hoDeyOdu? osey taDkoLrappaa!!
kila kilaaa!!
25 June 2007 at 9:09 pm
d.s.:
“Yes, most people live in glass houses.”
only because falling glass impacts their skulls far less than falling concrete would! ;-) or they would want to wear their helmet at home too!
- s.b.
25 June 2007 at 9:23 pm
ree Somebody.. aka Sunaad ..nimma baandlee thale mele nimma Car OOdiskolli..
Athava neevu CAARU OOdisovaaga ‘Helmet’ haakoLLI..yaake andhre
yaaradhru bandhu dharamadheetu haakthare .
yeNNe hodedhu yenyeno maathadtheera . Nimma Juttu( yidhrae allva) ..Jothra yerdu Bhadra maadkoLLi .
26 June 2007 at 6:15 am
SB:
True, but you get the point, don’t ya ;)
28 June 2007 at 12:08 pm
Hello Sunand, you need a thorough mental check up in Nimhans or where ever you suggest..I will personally take you for the treatment…
I wonder which part of India you exist from? whatver you do, OR i do OR the governmnt does, India is India, cant change few things in small towns..and we all have learnt to live wih it..Y are you not accepting the facts and trying to over react by writing such irrelavant and illogic mails…
Hey Guys,if you notice he is not only bitching about Mandya, he is also bitching about Bangalore (read his comment *But on my way back from the City which the world thinks is the panacea for all IT-related problems)..what he means Panacea..Bangalore well deserves that name….you make money here and bitch about us…You dont deserve to be here just get out from our lovely state
26 July 2007 at 2:48 pm
Hi Dear!!!!
Your observation is exactly right….. but who are you to say something about my sweet sakkare people….. we are sweet please tell in a sweet way so that next time we wear it on take our vehicles, Not in your bitter justifications about people.