Flirting with traffic... the 1st experiment

A gang of 10 friends, in their early 20's meeting at a eating joint, the traditional cuppa of tea replaced by lemon water Few of them working, few of them studying, nothin in common but one, desire,desire to do something,hunger to change the worldburning desire to have an idea on which they can work, carry on & do good to the society. Generations &generations of people have felt this desire in their early 20s, hardly anybody could transform it into reality, with this at the back of the mind & the challenges in front, the discussion starts,tempers go high, cribbing comes in, efforts are measured, time slots are decided,everybody knows, an idea, can change our lives, but where is that idea... and there is comes... to do something good for the traffic in pune... the best case is discussed, a trouble free traffic, disciplined & smooth, in pune & so is the worst case, nooo, its not thefailure , our determination is just too much to even think of it, the worst case being spreading awareness. Now with the idea in place, discussion shifts, people are more eager to contribute & jotting down of points starts,Many other groups are discussed, how they work, why they failed, what went wrong & a SWOT, strengths , weakness, opportunity , threats for our own group done Its time to get on to the field... Sunday 23rd March, morning 10am, a small group of 3 assemble at good luck chowk, one of the oldest & most famous places in pune.Objective : None ...None because we had no idea what to expect & its always better to be there with a blank, empty mind ! Two good photographers, Parag & Sameer, & myself, Ameya, started off with observing the traffic in Good luck chowk, next to Home Decor near Sagar Arcade on FC road.Something which was already known got confirmed,hardly anybody stops before the stop line. The reason of selecting good luck chowk was that, recently it has been spruced up & all the roads leading to it, have zebra crossing as well as stop lines, so it is easier to see if people follow rules out here. About 4-5 vehicles stopped ahead of stop line on each cycle of signal.We always feel that we are so called educated class of the city & what not, but we were utterly shocked when we saw a nariyal pani wala stopping before the stop line with his cart & 2 wheelers crossing the line. Being youngsters we have always heard people shouting & yelling that 20 somethings dont know how to drive, but then again what we observed was totally opposite, it was the 40 sumthings who were more than eager to go past the signal, leave aside the stop line . . . ! A whole team of police led by API Garde was stationed at the chowk & spotting us take photos, 1 warden & 1 police was sent to this side to enforce the rules.They were doing a really good job but the commuters just refuse to listen to them. Seeing that the police are doing their job well, we shifted our location, we crossed the road & went opposite to Good luck, from where vehicles turn to JM road,most of the times under impression that there is a FREE RIGHT.Here we had an objective in mind, to take snaps of PMT busses which break signals.. and we were successful in that. The stop line & the signal post on this side have a big gap in them & it tempts people to come forward.Seeing us there, few more police were summoned & posted out there who were trying their best to enforce the law. A scooter wala driving without a number plate was caught. & then a bajaj good auto for carrying excess load.It was a great sight, to see law being enforced in such a strict manner. After many many instances of people being forced to stop, leave aside stopping before the stop line, we decided to wind up, but not before talking to the police force deputed there. And so we met up API GARDE, who was leading the team out there at good luck chowk.Our first Q was why do we require police to enforce?The signals are working, the rules are known, why shouldnt the commuters themselves follow it ?He said, it was his wish to see this happen but has no hopes that something like this would happen in his lifetime.Another constable, Varpe, who has served the police force for 33yrs, joined in & shared his experiences.API Garde, has a wish that there should be a system, wherein your snap is clicked for breaking the signal, followed by that being linked to central system which sends you the snap & deducts the fine from your bank a/c. All said & done, a sense of doing some thing or rather starting something was sufficient to make this sunday a memorable one.Offcourse, well begone is half done but there are many generations who have left it at that half done level & its challenging to complete any task.The determination & the enthusiasm shall take us ahead... & more than anything else, the burning desire to do something, something good which ultimately benefits all. ..Ameya