Road rage is the term given to this phenomenon that is provoked by the actions of another driver and often manifests itself in aggressive behaviour. It is a very real and understudied problem but a display of road rage in this country was not something I had seen before even though my daily commute takes me all over the capital. Yes, we do have arguments and fights but for that to happen, it usually takes a collision or an accident of some sort to trigger it. But just because an instance of road rage hasn't descended into a roadside spectacle does not mean it doesn't exist. My informal and very unscientific survey of those who drive or ride (yes, it affects those on motorbikes too) yielded a near unanimous response in the affirmative.
A cursory search on the Internet will reveal thousands of road rage videos (of mostly western motorists) that show people completely losing the plot. The anger on display would make even the Hulk look like the proverbial gentle giant in comparison. I dread to think what would happen if these people tried their hand at riding or driving here. As any motorist in Kathmandu will tell you, it is an immensely exasperating experience trying to negotiate the organized chaos that passes for our traffic system. Is it any wonder that we are an annoyed lot? After all, it's not like we don't have reasons to be angry. On the contrary, we have more reasons than most.
Our daily commute is the stuff of nightmares, one that involves negotiating a veritable minefield of bad roads and even worse drivers which combine to make the entire process extremely strenuous. A big proportion of the blame for it has to rest with the bikers but it's not to say that drivers aren't culpable either.
All of us, whether on two or four wheels, are guilty of not playing by the rules. Now thanks to our dubious license issuing practices, I'm not sure many of us even know what the rules are – even those of us that do wilfully ignore traffic signs, lane discipline, and directionality of traffic because we are always in a hurry. Our collective impatience is the root cause of all irritation, and probably the single biggest hurdle to smooth traffic flow.
In other cities, people may leave 15 minutes early and expect to be on time. Here we leave 15 minutes late and expect to be there 15 minutes early. Cue the incessant honking if we feel we are being made to wait just that bit longer at a traffic signal. This aggression is not just restricted to motorists. God forbid the pedestrians are required to wait a while to cross the road. They have a secret weapon; hand signals that they have appropriated from traffic policemen to aggressively cross the roads as and when it suits them. And let's not even get started on our public transport drivers because the roads were really only built for them to occasionally indulge in spot of racing, drive willy-nilly on or just to park their vehicles. At least that's what they like to think.
All of the above is enough to drive you round the bend unless you have ice cold water running through your veins. Honestly, we must have a lot of patience given the fact that there isn't carnage on the streets every day due to our traffic etiquette. This absence of PDA (public displays of anger) can be explained ironically by the same system that we loathe. We have been marinated in this chaos for so long that nothing seems to bother us anymore. Hence we have developed such a high level of tolerance to atrocious driving and manoeuvring that it all seems completely normal.
If someone cuts us off we tend to shrug and get on with it. It is what we expect to happen and now it would actually seem odd if it didn't. Take for example the dangerous practice of overtaking on the left. It has become so common place by virtue of practice that we are resigned to accepting it. As a result we are perennially on guard and perhaps more accepting of the idiots that we share our roads with. Or it could be because we are guilty of doing the same things too when the opportunity presents itself.
Many people like me ride a bike and also drive around often. It is only when I drive that I find myself cursing the bikers when the truth is I'm prone to doing the same things when I ride. It could also – as my colleague pointed out – stem from our cultural attitude towards time. When it comes to time, we give and are in turn given a lot of slack by our employers and everyone in general. We are all on the same boat and state of traffic acts as a mitigating circumstance for our lateness. It is just an accepted fact of life in our part of the world.
The weirdest fact to emerge from all my discussions, debates and contemplation on the subject is that we are surprisingly quite tolerant on the roads. It may astonish quite a few of you and it certainly doesn't feel like it when you're out on the roads being tested to the limits of your endurance. But then, it could be a lot worse.
gunjan.u@gmail.com
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