Death on the Expressway.!! Who's NEXT ??.

27.07.16


Started the day with the sad and heartbreaking news of yet another accident on the Mumbai Pune Expressway. This time it was 6 young souls in their teens from Pune who had gone to celebrate their friendship to Lonavala and were returning back to Pune in the early hours of the day.

They celebrations could have  a lot of merry making with less sleep which caused the drowsiness of the driver. It is learnt that the driver was underage and had a learners license. I really shudder to think how parents are killing their kids by giving them vehicles,( two wheel or four wheel) before they are mentally, physically, emotionally and legally fit to drive.  `

Historically, The Mumbai Pune Expressway became fully operational as a single stretch in 2002 and since the past 15 years has served as a great drive between the two cities drastically reducing the time taken to travel. But with speed comes responsibility and the reckless driving of people on the road has turned the road into a highway to hell with the road taking hundreds if not thousands of lives since its opening.

The many reasons given for the fatalities are loss of control, fatigue, less sleep, etc. which are all human related factors and cannot be blamed to the technical parameters on which the road has been built. In fact stretches of the road are a marvel of Indian engineering.

The deaths have occurred mostly due to the human touch and related factors like sleep deprivation where in drivers have been driving for more than 12 hours at a stretch be it  private carriers , trucks, containers and like wise and loose control when on the road. Other reasons being old and deformed vehicles not fit for the road being used and transport companies pushing their vehicles and drivers to the limits to cut travel time resulting in deaths on accidents.

Our laws also are not strong enough to deter the law breaker from committing the offences regularly and also the lawmakers are not doing enough to see to it that people using the roads follow the rules. Being a frequent user till recently ( I stopped using the expressway about a year back and now prefer to travel by train to Pune) , I had noticed that the police presence is sufficient on the highway, it is in fact higher than  those at most highways in the state but the utility of these forces is a question that remain to be answered by the authorities. What is being done by the police to ensure that the lawbreakers do not proceed ahead on the highway when caught by them ? .

One thing I have noticed that very few cool cabs ( the govt. approved  taxi services between Dadar and Pune ) have been involved in accidents on the expressway over the years, having taken these blue silver cabs from Dadar to Pune many a times, I have noticed that most of these taxi drivers have at least 20 + years experience of driving, most of them  are old but young at heart and have been in this trade since the 80's and have switched from the Old highway to the New expressway quite easily. They have very strong nerves and drive safely always to reach you to the destination on time. Most of the younger drivers who have joined the fleet recently have also learnt from old chaps who are their gurus and hence also do drive safely.

Same cannot be said of the MSRTC Asiad , Shivneri bus drivers as well as the state owned ST buses, the Privately owned  buses & Volvo. Here most drivers are very rash in their driving and need control from the authorities. Every body will remember a few days back a lady from Pune whilst travelling back tweeted to the CM about the rash driving on a MSRTC Shivneri which had cut lanes and overtaken her cab at high speeds. In this age of speedy communication and social media awareness the driver  was suspended pending inquiry on reaching Pune. This power has to be used more often to make people realize that laws cannot be broken at their whims and fancies and the fear is instilled in the minds of the drivers. More importantly before embarking on a journey , the drivers should remember the near and dear ones at home who are waiting for them to come back.

Most are aware that there are two big toll nakas on the highway which serve as check points for the police to keep a check on the validity of the commercial vehicles being driven on the road as well as the private cars being driven there. But what we see the police doing on these toll nakas leaves a lot to be desired.

Unless few people are arrested and put behind bars nothing will change and the same offences and resultant deaths will continue. There used to be a time in Mumbai and other big cities where people used to party drink and drive,e.g. we are all aware of the superstar's case which is in court since ages.
Any ways point is that in the present times, due to the fear of the lawmakers, the instances of drunken driving has drastically reduced in the city and suburbs due to the fear of the police and arrests but this also is sadly not eliminated. Remember Ms. Jhanvi' s case on the Eastern Freeway which took two lives due to drunken driving and that too on the wrong side. She is out on bail.

The Maharashtra government which is showing so much of vigor and vitality in all departments under a dynamic CM, in all dept. of administration, should instruct the home ministry under whom the police is, to take adequate measures on the Mumbai Pune expressway so that fear of the law and lawmaker is re instilled in the minds of the people like it is in the cities.

The previous govt did nothing to improve conditions on the expressway other than naming it after a ex chief minister. But now we can expect that CM Fadnavis and team take the moral responsibility to improve conditions related to human errors and lawbreakers to bring things under control on the expressway. I would advice the CM to travel on this road in disguise without the hoopla specially on two or three separate days ( preferably nights) and he would get a feel of the ground reality.

We all know  that the time had come too early for these young boys to expire and leave their families and friends in distress but surely the police or any other authority present on the expressway on Monday night  could have stopped the car and checked and may be also challaned the boys  for over speeding which would have saved their young lives.

They were surely too young to go. My heart goes out to the families of these boys who have to suffer for these young lives taken away so soon as departed souls leave their near and dear ones in great suffering.

Please be responsible whilst driving on this road and take enough precautions and follow rules.

Me an Indian !!.

The other day whilst watching PM Mr. Narendra Modi addressing the American Congress in Capitol Hill, Washington, One felt a sense of pride seeing the applause and standing ovation he got to a well written and well delivered speech.

The speech reflected most things about India and what he plans to do in the coming years to serve his fellow Indians. The applause as most of us feel was for India and Indians rather than the PM alone by himself since it is us who elected him with a overwhelming majority to the lower house of parliament and in doing so gave a strong government  a mandate to rule after more than 2 decades of milli jjulli sarkar.

Outside India anywhere in the world, citizens of our country are known and recognized as Indians and Indians only and not any sub caste creed community or gothra..

Once you go out of the country , you are recognized by the color of your passport at immigration counters and every where else.

Then why is that in our own country, people will nudge you and judge you by your caste, creed, community,etc...etc.. even in today's day and time.

Indian origin Americans take pride in calling themselves Americans once the green card and citizenship is done...also similarly when a desi gets settled in England or other countries of Europe, they are known as citizens of that country.

Why  is it that in a progressive ( supposedly) city like Mumbai, people meeting you for the first time would say oh Pathak means you are a Gujarati or then a Maharashtrian  and assume the same and most funnily start speaking to you in their mother tongue...

Why can't it be only a INDIAN....

I know we are a multilingual multi cultural society but in today's age and time, it is most important that we wear our citizenship with pride on our sleeve and not push it under the sleeve only  to be known only when we cross the borders of the country.

Why my countrymen cannot be Indians in India rather than being a Punjabi, a Tamilian, a Malayalee, a Maharashtrain, etc.etc.. when in India.

Why do we need to mention these details to each other when we meet the first time, may be in our society , in our office, in our schools, in our colleges, why??.

Why can't we be just INDIANS.. by birth.....

This question intrigues me often as I see the difference when I travel abroad and when I am in Mumbai or  for that matter anywhere in India...why can't we be Indians????....

I feel our power to perform as a country and our belongingness would increase manifold when we start addressing our selves  as Indians rather than marwadis, gujhratis and our caste and creed.

I wish to hear from my  readers what they think about my views on this universal subject which must be troubling like minded individuals.

Dilemma of starting on your own!!.

I am penning down few thoughts that come to my mind for my first LinkedIn post.

There comes a time in your professional  life when you are at a crossroads & have to look ahead and decide what  you have to do with your life.

23+ years in a career spanning 5 different  companies and having worked with number of suppliers /vendors all these years to develop brands, pvt. labels, products and having met the various deadlines all your professional life.

Now at a point,where one has to decide to move ahead in life & may be to do something on your own rather than pursue the professional career ahead.May be start a product management company which can work with various small brands to set up their businesses in online and offline retail.

The eCommerce boom in the Indian economy has given numerous small and manufacturers labels and brands who were till now not having a organised outlet for selling their products. the customers staying in tier 3 cities and smaller towns which till now did not have a opportunity to purchase products which were hitherto only available in metros and tier 1 cities. Now these customers have the product delivered to their doorstep with COD facility thanks to the excellent supply chain set up by the home grown companies as well as the American giant Amazon.

The business has huge scope and even though there have been reams written about the business model of the eCommerce players this business is here to stay and will co exist with the offline retail chains.

There are opportunities which exist in the market with improved focus on " make in India "for which one has been a part of the bigger picture having worked with various small scale industries and entrepreneurs to set up their businesses.

The guidelines which are needed by these first generation entrepreneurs who need to focus on their core competency of bring to life an exciting product and let their businesses be guided by  professionals who know the job of bringing the customer to these products.

Having said what I have in mind in my first ever post in a professional network like LinkedIn, I would appreciate frank feedback to me from my peers, connections and friends here regarding what holds good for future , what they feel should be the path to be taken. 

Hoping to have a free and frank feedback. 

Lifes Musings.

At the age of 45 you reach a point in time where you starting reminiscing what has gone right in your life and what has gone wrong in your life.
some things in life which are often taken for granted like parents are the best that have happened to you as I believe that ones parents are the only free gifts in your life.

Every one else including your own siblings come with  a value attached which is either material or non material.Parents are closest one can get to god as every thing done by them in their life time is with self less love with which we also expect them to do for us and most often the expectations are met.

Our prayers to god for our well being also point to a sense of wanting from god which is moreover fulfilled by our parents in our life time. Our parents are god for us since they give birth to us and bring us up without any materialistic feelings in their actions.

This in today's world is found no where else but in love and care of our parent.s

For me my parents are the best that have happened to me in my as yet life simply because of their unconditional love and care that has been given to me since my birth.

Actually my feelings towards the love and care given by my parents have changed since the time Divyana was born 2 years back and realizing how much  happiness she has brought in our lives.

our life has changed 360 degrees since 13th November 2013, the date when she was born, more so for my wife but since I have been with her in every step taken, I am also privy to the feelings of joy and happiness which engulfs you when you are a parent of a new born and over time as you see the little one growing up step by step.

Divyana' s progress till her present age of 28 months has been observed by both of us very closely and we have taken joy and happiness for every milestone in her life. seeing the joy that Divyana has brought in to our lives and how it has changed us,I can well imagine how my parents may have felt at our birth and bringing us up. The joy and happiness on my mothers face whenever I go to visit her in Pune is worth all the precious gift of life and even at her age today, she stands and cooks fish for me when ever I go to meet her on the weekend.

truly parents are the greatest gift of life.