Driving on Indian roads and the Corporate World is always rough

Driving on Indian roads is an exhilarating experience. If someone gets an aerial view of Indian roads, he will understand the Brownian motion that explains the movement of particles in a random fashion in a fluid. After the sad demise of ex-CEO of Tata group Cyrus Mistry recently in a road accident road safety has become a hot topic of discussion. There are discussions that rear seat belts in a car will soon become mandatory.

Just by observing the volume of traffic on Indian roads during peak hours, one will understand why India has overtaken Britain as the world’s 5^th largest economy. It seems everybody is in a rush to reach office and contribute to making India the 4^th biggest economy next. The one virtue that is needed for driving on Indian roads is patience. But most of the time people who are in a rush tend to leave it at home.

One needs blessings while driving on Indian roads

Most drivers before starting a new journey take the blessings of God. One can see a flying Hanuman Ji hanging in the front attached to the rear-view mirror or a small frame of Lord Ganesh pasted on the front dashboard of the car. The reason is that it’s only God who can save you from the unruly drivers driving on Indian roads.

By observing the drivers driving on Indian roads one can judge the personality of not only people behind the steering wheel but also behind a workstation in a corporate world.

The Zigzag drivers driving on Indian roads

While driving on Indian roads you come across drivers who believe in driving in a zigzag fashion risking everybody’s life. They try to overtake from left or right wherever they can get space to get their car through. Taking shortcuts and breaking the law are in their DNA. They always want to stay ahead of the rest by hook or crook. It seems these people played a lot of Chinese checker games in their childhood.

In the corporate world, this species can excel in liaising work as he can get the company’s files approved in Ministry corridors in minutes. To stay ahead in the race he jumps red lights. Similarly, at liaising, he can cut across the red tape and get work done fast.

The Right-wing drivers

The ones who will only drive on the extreme right in the overtaking lane. These people think they have the birthright to be in the fast-track lane always. They consider themselves to be the superior race on earth. In the workplace, this species will never allow a deserving candidate to race ahead of him. And if by any chance one of the colleagues gets promoted, he will question the Boss on how he was considered for promotion over him. Most of the time the Right-wing drivers love to be seen in Boss’s coterie.

The Multitaskers driving on Indian roads

These are the drivers who believe in multitasking while driving. It means they can drive and speak over the phone simultaneously. Considering that they can do multiple jobs at a time means they can be multitaskers at the workplace. The only limitation with them is that they slow down the entire system unable to cope with the deadlines of multiple tasks at hand. Have you ever noticed a car driving at dead slow speed in front of you in the middle lane and despite honking is unwilling to make space for you? If yes, then observe closely and you will find the driver checking messages on the mobile or speaking with somebody.

The Honkers who make you go bonkers

There are times when you notice that a car suddenly appears out of nowhere right behind you. You try to judge the gap by looking in the rear-view mirror. The gap is hardly in meters. You try to accelerate and get ahead but the car follows you with the same aggressiveness. On the other hand, the continuous honking makes your blood boil. It’s then you realize that the guy has similar traits as your Boss in the office.

The Boss in the office also has this habit of keeping a very close watch on you. He follows your performance closely and the moment you are off the track he gives you a big dressing. His continuous honking (read shouting) at times makes you go crazy in the office.

The disciplined lot

This lot of drivers follow the traffic rules while driving on Indian roads. They maintain speed limits and stick to their lane. Red lights for them mean stop. On the other hand,  you will never find them driving in the overtaking lane. But in a chaotic world, they are a dying community. They always get overtaken by the zig-zag or the right-wing drivers.

Every organization looks for employees who are committed to work,  sincere, and hard-working with a high level of integrity. But seldom do these guys get recognized for their contribution to an organization. They get badly beaten by the zigzag and the right-wing drivers who believe in taking shortcuts. The indisciplined lot has a lot of tools to take shortcuts like sycophancy, taking credit for somebody else’s achievements, feeding the boss with incorrect information, etc.

The Frankenstein drivers

If you are driving on Indian roads, you will find all kinds of cars and SUVs. Indians have developed so much liking for SUVs that every car company’s portfolio is incomplete without 3 to 4 models of SUVs in their product line. The moment a car driver notices an SUV in his rear-view mirror, he immediately gives way on the right for it to overtake. The driver sitting on a raised platform in an SUV gives a condescending look at the sedan driver as if telling him that he should first learn to drive.

In a workplace, there are always a few colleagues who at the slightest pretext will speak to you in a very condescending way. Whether it’s an official meeting in a conference room or a meeting in the Boss’s room, the sole objective of this character is to shoot down any idea suggested by you. Their ultimate aim is to prove that they have a better understanding of the entire workplace and know how things move in this organization. Their big ego is bigger than an SUV on a road.

The Traffic police

The role of traffic police is to monitor traffic with safety being a priority. But somehow this role has taken a backseat and the sole objective of the traffic police these days is revenue generation. They are more interested in issuing challans than monitoring traffic on the road.

In the workplace, the role of traffic police is performed by the HR department. Employee welfare which is the sole objective of any HR department has taken a backseat. Most of the time you will find them busy with performance appraisals, recruiting new employees, and conducting exit interviews. In a performance appraisal, their job is to pacify an employee by explaining why he was not considered for a promotion or given a raise. While recruiting they ensure that the raise given to a new joinee is as close to his last salary thereby keeping the company’s salary bill low. Exit interviews are only a formality as there are hardly any learnings from them. If people are leaving because of a toxic work culture or a high-handed boss, you will hardly find any marked improvement in it.

So tighten your seat belt before putting your foot on the accelerator. You are driving on an Indian road.

Click on the following link to read more on driving safely:

https://www.team-bhp.com/news/9-tips-driving-safely-indias-chaotic-roads

https://www.autocarindia.com/auto-features/top-ten-highway-driving-tips-413112

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