The untimely death of Mr Munde in an car accident highlights the need for safety while traveling and the need to severely curb the rising traffic violations on our roads. It is reported that the highest number of deaths are taking place in the world on Indian roads. However there is little that is being done by the authorities to reduce the incidence of these unfortunate deaths. Indians also seem to have a fatalistic attitude towards road mishaps even if it is going to involve oneself.

Indian Scenario:

It is estimated by WHO that nearly 3,400 persons die everyday on the roads of the world. Every year nearly 1.24 million persons lose their lives in traffic deaths worldwide. Around 3,94,982 Indians died in road accidents in 2012 on Indian roads and it is 1% higher than the figure in 2011. Rising population and number of vehicles also  contributes to increase in deaths every year. The states of Tamil Nadu, UP, AP, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Gujarat are at the top of the list of road accident deaths. Nearly 97% of the victims were traveling in private vehicles

The mode of transport also has a bearing on the number of fatalities. Two-wheelers account for 23%, trucks & lorries 19% and cars 10% of the traffic related deaths. Females account for nearly 15% of these deaths. Maximum road accidents, nearly one third, occur between 3.00 pm to 9.00 pm time period and around 6% between mid-night and 3.00 am in the night. Among cities Mumbai is at the top followed by Delhi, Pune, Bengaluru and Chennai while the lowest rate of road deaths is in Kolkatta.

Causes of Road Accidents :

Some of the reasons why accidents take place are for following reasons :

Due to road users driving rashly or at high speeds, willfully violating traffic rules, driving under influence of liqour or in fatigue condition, negligence and in case of long driving hours feeling sleepy.

Due to faults in vehicles like brake failures, tyre bursts, faulty electrical or steering system.

Due to improper road conditions like pot holes, rough patches, obstructions etc.

Due to bad road design and lay out like sudden narrowing, improper width, improper curves, inadequate lighting and improper traffic lighting system.

Due to and environment climatic conditions like rains, storms, snow, smoke and floods and improper placement of advertisement boards.

The Average Indian Driver :

The careless attitude of our drivers begins at the learning stage itself. Most of the time the driving licences are arranged through agents. The driving exams are a sham and hardly anyone takes them seriously. The agents take care of everything and ensure one gets a permanent licence. The various road signs and rules to be observed during driving are rarely studied and understood in detail by the drivers. When the system is going to deliver a permanent licence, courtesy an agent, who is going to take the trouble of preparing for an sham exam.

Many years back, I remember a friend of mine who had gone through an agent to give his driving test was failed by the RTO examiner. My friend went and blasted the agent who told him not to worry. After about a fortnight he got him his permanent licence without him having to appear  for a driving test again. 

This connivance of the agents and corrupt persons in authority ensures that a very high number of drivers of two and three-wheelers and cars and trucks get the legal  right to drive without proper training and examination.

However, real culprits are the drivers themselves, who do not understand the gravity of their careless attitude and that they could be a cause of accident and bad driving on the roads and could end up themselves on the wrong side of the law and injuries which could be fatal.

The responsibility is on the state to devise a foolproof system to ensure road safety and the citizens must cooperate with it. I have often found it amusing and distressing that Indian citizens when they emigrate to say USA are very keen to get their international driving licence in India where they can 'manage' rather than in USA where they will not be able to do so.

The Traffic Law Breakers :

There is an increase in the number of drivers, especially two-wheeler owners, to break the traffic rules with a degree of freedom not seen before. In my city and I am told elsewhere also, it is very common to see scooters and motorcyclists and often a car come from the opposite side on your left side. It is very risky as many a time one sees them at the last moment. They are doing so to avoid coming from the right opposite side which would mean they have to drive a bit longer. Some daring drivers come from the opposite side along the divider in your driving lane. This has now increased so much that it is now looking a normal practice. The traffic police look helplessly on.

The two wheeler drivers hardly put their helmets on. It has been seen that in many fatal cases, if the driver had his helmet on, he would have been saved. Similarly many car drivers do not put on their seat belts and pay for it often with their lives. Another habit is not to follow the traffic signals. Either there is a tendency to rush and beat the red light or start even before the green light is on. It creates many near collision possibilities. Yet another irritating habit is to park the vehicle in the lane which is open on the left side during red signal,thereby blocking the lane.

The pedestrians are another source of problem creators. They walk, cross, run from anywhere to anywhere on the roads especially during crossings. It is their right to do so and it is the duty of the vehicle drivers to save them. 

Another nuisance is the presence of stray animals on the roads of many cities. They block the roads, make them dirty and are cause of accidents especially with two-wheelers. The three-wheeler drivers are a class by themselves and one has to watch their movements very carefully as they can turn anywhere at almost no notice.

The Possible Solution :

The only way in which traffic in India can be regulated and lives saved is by strictly implementing the traffic rules and heavily punishing the violators. Most of the traffic rules are of a by gone era when the vehicle density was relatively negligible. With  increase in population, the number of vehicle owners has gone up significantly. Roads are choked with traffic during the evening hours. On Indian roads the sheer variety of vehicles makes it all the more challenging for rule makers.  In many parts of the city it is not possible to widen the roads unless buildings are brought down. Yet traffic has to move on.

The fine on minor traffic violations should be minimum Rs. 500 for two and three wheeler drivers. For car drivers it should be minimum Rs. 1,000 per violation. For commercial drivers it should Rs. 1,500 for non truck drivers and for them it should be Rs 2,000 on wards. These may look harsh but with cost of vehicles also having gone up the violators should be made to pay for their law breaking. Repeated violators must be fined double the amounts. In fact there should be a provision to suspend driving licence for a specified period of time

Another provision must be that after say two violations, the information should go to the vehicle insurance company. The next premiums should be raised accordingly. In fact after say three violations, the insurance company should deny insurance. Similarly life insurance premiums should also go up for them. 

They should be forcibly made to attend traffic rule awareness classes. 

Conclusion:

If the number of deaths on Indian roads has to be reduced significantly then strict laws and strict fines including imprisonment have to be introduced. These have to be strictly enforced without fear and corruption. The citizens also should co-operate as they are the beneficiaries. It is high time that discipline should be brought on Indian roads. If only traffic rules were followed Mr. Munde would have been alive today!

Just like one of the co-founders of PayPal, Max Levichin, born in Ukraine, and co-founder of Google, Sergey Brin, born in Russia, Jan Koum is an immigrant. Jan Koum was born in a small village in Ukraine. It was a communist nation. He didn’t even have electricity at his house. His father was a construction worker who built school and hospital buildings.

Due to political instability in Ukraine, Jan had to leave Ukraine and he came to America with his mother and grandmother. His father was unable to come with them. In Mountain view, California, the American government provided them with a two bedroom apartment. Koum and his family lived in this apartment but they had to struggle greatly to earn a living. They didn’t have enough money to buy food, so they used food stamps to buy their groceries.

Today, the place where his family used to buy food, using food stamps is just a few meters away from the current office of WhatsApp, in Mountain view, California. His mother got cancer and they didn’t have money for her treatment. The disability allowance that the government provided was used to buy daily necessities for their home.

Koum spoke good English but he didn’t like to make friends in high school. He was a shy kid. He also had difficulties in his school studies. At the age of 18 he used to buy old books and manuals from bookstores and started learning computer networking himself. He also joined a hacker group.

Later he took admission in San Jose State University. Along with his studies he started doing a night job in ‘Ernst & Young’. Working in the night shift he met Bryan Acton and soon they became good friends. Bryan was overseeing the advertising system in ‘Ernst & Young’.

After six months Koum gave a job interview in Yahoo and he got a job there in Infrastructure and Security Engineering Department. Later Bryan also joined Yahoo. After joining Yahoo, Koum found it difficult to attend college. He was only able to attend for two weeks after getting his job. So like Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerburg, Koum also dropped out and didn’t complete his studies.

In 2000, Koum’s mother died after her fight with cancer. His father died back in 1997. So all of a sudden Koum was all alone without any family.  Bryan supported him during these difficult times. Their friendship deepened after this. They both liked to play football and go Skiing.

After working for yahoo for nine years Koum and Bryan left Yahoo in September 2007. They were unemployed for one year after that. They didn’t have any plans, so they repeatedly applied for a job in Facebook, but they never succeeded. Bryan said that they both were in the rejected club of Facebook.

Today that same Facebook company is paying them 19 billion dollars to buy their company. Not only this, Koum will also be a member of the board of directors of Facebook.

In January 2009, Koum bought an iPhone. And he realised that the seven month old App Store was going to revolutionize the whole apps market. Koum met with his Russian friend Alex Fishman and discussed about creating an app. Alex knew Koum was serious about this endeavour, so he arranged a meeting with an iPhone developer. And suddenly during this meeting Koum came up with a wonderful idea for an app. He named it ‘WhatsApp’ because it sounded similar to ‘what’s up’. He thought it was a cool name for an app.

After this Koum started a company in California called WhatsApp Inc. The first people to download this app were Koum and his Russian friend Alex. Later their other Russian friends also downloaded this app. And over the years WhatsApp became a sensation and it changed the way people used to text each other.

Indian Connection

Neeraj Arora, 35, is the vice president of WhatsApp. He completed his engineering at IIT Delhi. Later he also did MBA from the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad. In 2012 he made a deal with Anil Ambani’s company, Reliance Communications, to provide unlimited WhatsApp messages for 16 Rs per month plan. He considered this to be one of his biggest achievements. Before this he was working in Google for four years under corporate development. Before joining Google he was the Chief Manager at Times Internet Limited. He is also a self taught hacker like Koum.

Photo source:-

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/opinion/interviews/we-want-a-billion-indians-on-whatsapp-says-co-founder-jan-koum/articleshow/31009771.cms

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/d2/Windows_Whatsapp.png/200px-Windows_Whatsapp.png

With time the human body ages and withers away. But it’s a man’s words, thoughts and principles that could truly withstand the test of time and become immortal. Immortality doesn’t mean an eternal life. It means living in the hearts of the people whose lives you touched and inspired. Mahatma Gandhi is one such example. He not only helped India in becoming independent but he also inspired its people to realize their true potential and putting their best efforts in creating a better society.

Mahatma Gandhi became the source inspiration for many great leaders of the world. Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr. followed the path of non-violence and truth to accomplish their mission of independence and civil rights for the black people. Mahatma Gandhi not only changed the Indian society but his actions and principles also changed the history of mankind.

Today’s society is in dire need of following the principles of Mahatma Gandhi. People in the society are becoming more violent. It is becoming almost impossible to have a peaceful discussion and resolve your differences. They don’t understand that no one can ever reach a solution with violence. Violence will only create new problems. But today if a person doesn’t agree with your thoughts and beliefs, he will not hear your logical arguments. He would prefer to harm you physically and not let you express your thoughts.

Nathuram Vinayak Godse was obsessed with this kind of mindset. That’s why he assassinated Mahatma Gandhi on the evening of 30th January 1948 in Delhi. He disliked Mahatma Gandhi and his philosophy of non-violence. So he chose the easy route to end the voice of Mahatma Gandhi by firing three bullets in his chest. He committed one of the greatest crimes of the century, just because he disagreed with the beliefs of Mahatma Gandhi.

Even after sixty six years of Mahatma Gandhi’s martyrdom his principles and philosophy of non-violence and truth grows stronger and spreads around the world. Mahatma Gandhi has become a global icon of peace and non-violence. Nathuram Godse tried to kill the principles and teachings of Mahatma Gandhi with his three bullets. But those three bullets only made him immortal in the hearts of people around the world.

Mahatma Gandhi believed that even the most pessimistic and stubborn person could be changed into a sensitive and caring human being. Mahatma Gandhi became the guiding light to many lost souls. He guided them on the path of righteousness. He became the father figure to many individuals. Here is one such tale of Mahatma Gandhi’s generosity and compassion that changed the life of a young man.

One night a thief entered the Sabarmati Ashram with the purpose of stealing. Some Ashram residents saw the thief and caught him stealing. Unable to decide what to do with him, they locked him in a room. In the morning, after prayer and meditation they brought the thief before Mahatma Gandhi. They informed him about the incident that took place last night. Gandhiji listened to them calmly. After they were finished telling about last night’s incident, Gandhiji asked them whether they gave the thief some breakfast or not? This question surprised them. They said in unison that this person is a thief and he should be punished. Mahatma Gandhi told them elegantly that before being a thief he is a human, just like all of us. You had your breakfast so why should he be denied of that.

Hearing these gentle words the thief started crying. No one has ever treated him with such compassion. With tears in his eyes he confessed his crimes and told them that he only came here to steal some food as he was very hungry. After this Mahatma Gandhi accepted him as his Ashram member. This incident converted the young man into a loyal and strong freedom fighter. This was the magic of Mahatma Gandhi’s words and philosophy. Our mindset and attitude can solve any problem or disagreement. We just have to keep an open mind and show some compassion.

Mahatma Gandhi’s teachings and philosophies are still as relevant today as it was in the past. We could still learn a great deal from his life and apply it in our everyday life. In today’s society, filled with hurtful comments and obscene language, this incident could give us some inspiration.

Mahatma Gandhi was traveling to England in a ship. In the morning he liked to sit on the deck, weaving yarn on his charkha and meditate. Everyday one Englishman would yell vulgar curses and obscenities at him. But Mahatma Gandhi never reacted to his offensive words. This went on for a few days. Getting no reaction from Mahatma Gandhi, at last the Englishman got frustrated.

One day he wrote those curses and obscenities on five or six pages and gave it to Mahatma Gandhi on the deck. Mahatma Gandhi glanced at the letter and with a very calm attitude removed the paperclip from those pages. He put the paperclip inside his charkha and the pages under it and started spinning his yarn, without saying a word. The vexed Englishman just stared at him in disbelief. He asked Gandhiji that why isn’t he reacting to him, after everything he had done.

Mahatma Gandhi smiled and showed him the paperclip. He told the Englishman that it was the only useful thing in those papers that he gave him. I have saved it to use it in the future. The rest of your letter was of no use to me, so why should I waste my energy reacting to it. Hearing his wise words the flabbergasted Englishman was speechless. He realized his mistake and was deeply ashamed of his behavior. That day his encounter with Mahatma Gandhi gave him a whole new perspective on life.

Mahatma Gandhi believed that no one can offend a person if he doesn’t give him the permission. We cannot control the words and behaviors of other people. So there is no use in wasting your time and energy reacting to them. You should not let other people make you angry or sad. You have the power to control your emotions. Remember, sticks and stones may break your bones but words are wind, they cannot hurt you.

Photo Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahatma_Gandhi

Muthulakshmi Reddi

Government of India conferred Dr. Mrs. Muthulakshmi Reddi, the first Indian to be medical graduate, first ever member of a state assembly and first deputy speaker of any legislative assembly anywhere in the world, with Padama Bhushan in 1956 for her services for the nation. She was among the founder members of ‘Women Indian Association’ who took an active part to make it a big success. 

Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddi was a very successful medical practitioner and a popular social worker prior to her election as a member of legislative assembly of Madras Legislative Council. She had traveled abroad for her education purpose and later for the purpose of participation in conferences related to women’s cause, therefore when her name was proposed for Madras presidency membership, she was an unopposed choice. She was immediately elected as deputy speaker as soon as she became the member of the house. 

Introduction of Muthulakshmi Reddi

Muthulakshmi was born in on July 30, 1886 at Pudukottai in Madras State. She suffered from Asthma right from a very young age of 9 or 10 but the girl who suffered from illnesses for a long time showed the world her charisma later as a very successful lady. She was brought up in an age when the system did not allow education for girls. The Deewan of Pudukottai had started a school for the purpose of education of local girls but despite the offer of scholarships, very few girl students took the admission in that school. Muthulakshmi was sent to the school by her father in a covered vehicle, hidden from the public view. There was no clock or books in the school. She was given a book written on leaves. Her father had requested her class teacher to train her enough so that she could manage the domestic accounts of laundry and milk. 

There was no provision to teach English to girls but seeing the talent of Muthulakshmi, she was taught English up to First Standard. Her father was a learned man, principal of Maharaja College who was known and respected for his strict discipline, strong character, generosity and keeping his words. Seeing her interest and talent in education, he encouraged Muthulakshmi to study further. She appeared in matriculation examination that was a tough job those days. Only 10% students would manage to clear that exam those days and Muthulakshmi Reddi was the only girl student that passed the exam that particular year. She later passed her intermediate exams but had to skip one year due to her illness but she was admitted in the Madras medical college on the recommendation of king of Pudukottai. 

There was no hostel facility available for girls in the medical college and also the Christian hostels were not preferred for girls those days, therefore Muthulakshmi was housed in a private place. Her Asthma worsened during her education but she did not give up her efforts and continued with her best efforts to obtain very good marks in her exams. Incidentally, there was not a single girl student in medical education from Christian or Anglo-Indian community. In such an atmosphere, a Hindu girl medical student became the target of jealousy in the local circles. But Muthulakshmi Reddi proved her merit after the first year results were declared and she succeeded with flying colors. She further proved herself in third and fourth year when she managed to obtain 100% marks in Surgery, considered a man-oriented subject.                             

Social activities of Muthulakshmi Reddi

 Muthulakshmi Reddi became the first doctor in India with distinction in Surgery and Honors in the year 1912. There were few lady doctors in India but they were trained in foreign countries. Soon there were number of job offers for Muthulakshmi Reddi and she was appointed the first Lady Surgeon in Egmore’ women and children hospital. In 1913, she was married to Dr. Sundar Reddi, F.R.C.S. the surgeon in King George Hospital. The marriage was according to her personal choice and on her own conditions that she will live her life on her conditions and according to her own preferences. She opened her own clinic in Madras in 1914 as a private practitioner and became very famous instantly. During that period she got the chance of meeting many renowned politicians like Sarojini Naidu and started taking part in social and women related activities. In 1925, she went abroad on government add for higher education and represented Indian women in a women’s conference held in Paris in 1926. She was elected for the Madras Presidency in the same year when returned to India. Incidentally, she opened the first Indian Child Hospital in Madras. 

Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddi carried out a number of social works for women in her capacity of a Member of legislative assembly. She worked hard against Devdasi tradition and brought a bill for removal of this bad practice going on in temples for ages. Finally, she succeeded in her struggle against this social evil and had the bill passed in 1929. She brought many bills for approval in the assembly related to education and health of women and children welfare. She was the one who started the procedure of regular health check-up of children in schools. She opened various specialty centers for treatment of infants, hospitals for women and children, appointed women medical service and especially allocated funds for education of women. In fact, Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddi recommended free education to women and children in India. 

Her Social Activities

By year 1930, Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddi was fully active in various social works and started institutions such as ‘Awai Home’ for orphan children and run these centers successfully. Later in 1951, she established the first cancer hospital in south India. She was appointed member in the Hartog Committee under Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms. She traveled allover India and Burma to study the situation and submitted her report to help the cause of women’s educational condition in the country. She was one of the members along with princes Amrit Kour and Begum Sharif Hamid Ali that represented India in Round table Conference in !929 held in London to discuss the issues related to women organizations in India. 

She resigned from the post of Deputy Speaker of the state assembly during the Namak Satyagrah agitation in 1929-30 after Mahatma Gandhi was arrested and other women agitators were beaten badly by the British police force. She participated openly in fight for Freedom along with other renowned Indian leaders. After our country got its independence, she was again elected member of state assembly of Madras and elected first Chairwomen of Madras State Welfare Board. She was also the Elder Women of Madras City Corporation during that period. Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddi the great reformer of Indian social circles and great follower of Mahatma Gandhi and Annie Besant left for her Heavenly abode on 22 July in 1968.