The Hindu : New Delhi News : Inside Delhi

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
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New Delhi

New Delhi

Inside Delhi

Beggars are choosers

Beggars in Delhi are increasingly becoming choosers. Unwilling to settle for what is doled out, they have discovered the right of assertion.

While they refuse to accept 50-paise coins without any qualms, they also no longer hesitate to specify the amount of money they expect from people. It is often that one gets to hear a request for a fiver or more at traffic signals and around street corners, or get accosted by beggars asking for food.

A friend stepping out of a coffee shop recently was surprised when stopped by a group of urchins asking her for potato chips instead of money or plain food.

Clearly bewildered by the new avatar of begging, she tried asking the motley group if money was no longer preferred. But she was in for a bigger surprise when the youngest of the group without batting an eyelid reiterated the demand, this time even specifying the brand they preferred.

- Smriti Kak Ramachandran

Slanging match

The Capital may sure be heading for an image makeover ahead of the Commonwealth Games barely three years away. New flyovers and buses are all on the anvil to give Delhi a place among world-class cities.

Though the physical requisites will soon be in place, where Delhi seems to be seriously falling short is in the behaviour of Delhiites in public places, especially on the road. The other day a friend took an auto-rickshaw ride to Central Delhi. Halfway through the journey, near the Rail Bhawan roundabout, a two-wheeler rider crossed the auto-rickshaw at dangerously close quarters.

Before anyone could figure out what was happening, the vehicles stopped in the middle of the road during peak traffic hour and the drivers began a slanging match.

It did not take long for them to throw challenges at each other and soon there was a free-for-all.

Traffic came to a standstill and other drivers went on a honking spree. But the two men remained oblivious to the scene around and the hapless passenger was left in a lurch. The brawl went for quite a while before a Good Samaritan decided enough was enough and intervened to separate the drivers.

The blood-smeared auto-rickshaw driver stepped back into the vehicle as if nothing had happened, but the woman passenger took quite a while to recover.

- P. Anima

Reckless driving

The recent increase in fines for traffic violations does not seem to have deterred some road users from reckless driving, especially at night when there are hardly any traffic policemen to regulate the vehicular movement on Delhi roads.

The Delhi High Court's recent directive to charge an additional Rs. 500 for each offence under the Motor Vehicles Act was welcomed by both the traffic police and the citizens who abide by the traffic rules.

A special drive was also launched to implement the court order effectively and with the intention to send across the message that violators would not be spared.

As expected, there has been a marked change on the roads during the day, perhaps because of heavy presence of traffic police personnel at roundabouts and traffic intersections. But at night when the policemen are not around, many road users do not hesitate to jump traffic signals or drive at top speed without caring for fellow commuters.

In the process, these reckless drivers tempt other road users to violate traffic rules as well.

The traffic police are now planning to launch a drive to book those who violate traffic rules at night. It remains to be seen if this measure would ensure greater discipline on the roads.

- Devesh K. Pandey

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