Outsourcing Change

The title of this blog is borrowed from a status update of my friend Sameer Shisodia. This is probably the most pertinent phrase on the eve of the election results. Sameer in his post said 

"So - now the wait begins to bring in "change" and outsource our responsibilities, hopes and duties to a an all new central figure who is expected to change and fix everything without us having to move a finger, give up on our greed and needs, change nothing at our end and put in no extra effort " # Democrazy?

I cannot agree more to his words. As someone who had responded to his update said "Govt change karne se kya hoga? We are like this only. We will not wait in line. We will put our trash on the road. We will drive on the wrong side of the road. We will always hurry but never reach on time. We will always find someone else to fault. Govt change karne se kya hoga jab hum khudh change nahi honge". 

I am writing this post out of sheer disgust, frustration and helplessness. People blame everything but for themselves for all ills in the society. People's social attitude is becoming worse. Aggression seems to be the new norm on the roads. Disrespect for rules and insensitivity for others has become a matter of routine. 

I will just pick up an incident i was involved in today. I have been living in south Bangalore all my life and have seen it grow (worse) leaps and bounds. Vidhyarthi Bhavan (VB), located in Gandhi Bazaar is any day my hot favourite for its yummy dosa and awesome coffee.

Today evening, myself, my wife and our little Krishna drove to Gandhi Bazaar for that amazing dosa at VB. As i was crossing the road holding my 8 month old baby Krishna, a man aged around 40 riding a two wheeler with three people on it almost ran into me speaking on his cell phone (No helmet of course). When i gave him a glare, he yelled "Chal re". It was clearly his mistake. Without any debate, we moved on. 

After the yummy dosa and coffee at Vidhyarthi Bhavan, we were accompanied out by a lady (may be 35 to 38 years old), her two kids, her secretary (or PA or some assistant). A sedan car stopped outside VB and her assistant opened the back door for her. All of them got into the car. We just moved a few steps to cross the road and couple of empty boxes of sweets and a plastic cover came flying out of the car. A box fell on my feet as well. I got furious and asked the driver and the lady on the car if this is what they were teaching their kids. The reply was in Kannada and the madam's driver very rudely said "ಇವಾಗ ಏನು? ಸುಮ್ಮನೆ ಹೋಗಿ “It means "I threw, so what now? You just go". 

They did not even bother to apologize. They were from an upper middle class family. When i picked up the box and the cover from the road, they did not even react. I am sure they were not embarrassed. They just drove off. 

Other than picking those boxes from the road and throwing in the dustbin, i could not do anything much. It is unfortunate, but i guess this is how we live.

At this rate, it is dangerous to think of the future. Discipline in public seems to be totally absent. If this is our attitude, no leader will be able to change anything. Discipline and change must come from within.

As sameer put it very beautifully, we only want to "Outsource" change. But the inconvenient truth is, there is no messiah with a magic wand who will change the things overnight.

  

PS: The Bangalore i lived in my childhood or for that matter even during my engineering days was not this rude or insensitive.  Society has become abusive and aggressive.