4.HEROES AND COLD WARS

 

Angshuman is a young boy of 21 years and just out of college. He has plans to go for further studies in his line of interest but thinks he can wait. His father, a business tycoon has very little interest in Angshuman’s plans and wants him to start a career in his expansive industry. He decides to gift him with a car for his birthday- A Honda Accord. And there went his dream of serving the country literally down the road.

Angshuman is quick to get into the driving mode; more so like an ace speedster, weaving in and out of the traffic, even on one of the bumper to bumper days. He creates a menace on the streets, ignoring the scowling red-faced persons at the wheels of the car, who shouts at him from inside their air-conditioned cars and some even roll down their glasses. Apart from that, with his glasses rolled down on occasions, his car would sound like a mobile discotheque what with his psychedelic music of sorts. In short, Angshuman dared to be the devil in disguise, least bothered about the trail of hate votes he collected on the way! And why should he, when his father, a known socialite was least bit bothered about his son’s antics. And who knows, Angshuman might have very well picked up the dramatics from his father.

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So, now we have a major problem on the table and an agenda to tackle. With 200 cars added to the streets of Guwahati every day, one can only expect to possess a car which will double up as a helicopter- a helicar on one of those days when we have to reach dot on time for a meeting. And with people like Angshuman, we have an even more serious crisis.

Today, if we notice, there are more people with humungous cars and equally gargantuan egos to match their cars than we had a decade ago. But when we see a boy graduating out of a university with a name to match its standards, we expect the boy to behave in a manner similar to the environs he had been used to in college- calm, sophisticated, royal, steady  and carrying himself with élan.

These days, people really are treated to a feast of cars on the roads of Guwahati as one gets to see all sorts of cars- starting from the humble Maruti 800 to the Hummer. And why not? More than any other asset, people have acquired an affinity for cars which make them feel powerful, strong, aggressive, domineering and menacing. So cars too many on the streets of the city!

But the question is “Should these big cars behave like an Oxford University Grad or like someone who has dropped out of school?” A serious question but one that needs to be taken by the horns. A small car behaving ‘badly’ on the road can be to a certain extent excused but when it comes to one of the ‘big’ cars like a Safari, an Endeavour, a Hummer, a Xylo, an Innova, one would expect it to be quietly standing next to you without much of a hullaballoo. It would be dominating enough for such a ‘quiet giant’ to slowly and steadily go through the streets instead of rushing at a breakneck speed and trying to kill people.

In the past, a Rolls Royce would be sold to that person who belonged to the elite, educated class with a social standing and not to some ‘Tom, Dick or Harry’. Rolls Royce returned to India in 2005 in a huge way and they have two dealerships (Mumbai and New Delhi) and sell 16-20 cars a year.
Before 1947 some 900 Rolls Royces were sold in India. Many were bespoke cars for the Maharajas (including several cars outfitted for hunting tigers). But a lot of these cars were sold to foreign collectors in the 1960's. So all this leaves us to imagine how one of these Rolls Royce car owners behaved or behave when they get their car out on the streets once in a while.

Someone once said, “A car is an extension of the personality of a person.” Rightly said. If a person driving an Audi behaves in an incongruous manner in the traffic, what can be said of the owner? Likewise, when the Scorpio hit the streets of the city several years back, everyone thought it was a mean and dominating machine. And it quite lived up to its expectations! Every Scorpio owner thought the SUV they were driving gave them power to dominate others and they had the rights to override other ‘smaller’ cars. It was like the Scorpio told a Maruti 800, “Hey Tiny Man, move over. Let me pass or I will hit you from the back!” And the humble Maruti would move over cussing under its breath, “Wait till I hit you!" So, here we have a cold war and cold murderous glares at each other!  

If every car decides to stamp on an etiquette seal and behaves better than before, maybe there is hope of seeing less accidents, less cold wars, congruous city traffic and peace of mind! Just as a car is cleaned every morning and given a shine, if every owner’s etiquette on the road too shines like the car, then we can say that we have happy days ahead. And who doesn’t want a happy situation?

 

Indrajit Kr. Saikia

Tinat Atifa Masood