Some thing VS Something

How to describe my first week in Delhi? Well… I find it almost impossible. But let’s go for it! It’s total chaos, says me, experience it from my own Dutch and therefore limited view. With respect to the people here: how they survive? And then I am only talking about the traffic. If you see and experience the traffic you’ll not be surprised there are over 120.000 accidents with deadly end in India every year. To be honest it surprises me that there aren’t more.

I admire the 1.2 billion Indians minus 120.000 who are not involved in deathly accidents (and bring me home every day…). It is important to understand the ‘unwritten rules’ on driving around. It also shows a series of competences of the people in driving here. To drive around in Delhi, you need quick anticipation, adaptive power, perseverance, very high minimum stress level, broad view, ability to switch fast… and these are just a few words written by me, a West European resident with a Dutch (overly) structured background out of a welfare state and… 2.3 deathly-end-accidents per day (vs more than 300 per day in India).

Admiring is one, but of course every person who dies in road traffic is one too much…

In my first week here I drove from west Delhi to south Delhi and back again. It’s a 2-hour drive in the back of a cab. I would like to take you with me. In my ‘old school’ Dutch rush and drive and the principal that working while you’re on the way to an appointment is effective and efficient I took the papers about Fleet Forum and started reading. After just reading 1 word I got this strange feeling. Me as a blank educated woman, with my beloved and family and friends in my heart, staying safe and secure in a hotel, healthy and well-fed, feeling a drive to get things done here and driving in a cab from place to place… It felt not respectfully to the people outside the cab to start reading. On the other hand: who cares outside… They have got something else on their minds and to worry about…

I decided to stop reading and just experience. In addition to ‘get things done’ during my assignment I think priority number one is to look around and experience. Not to ‘aapjes kijken’ but to try to get an understanding of the culture: why do people what they do?

Looking around and experiencing is what I did in Delhi in my first week to prepare myself instead of reading. This to start to understand the people and their drives. To communicate with them, in particular with the people we train. With that training we want to create awareness: let them see, learn and rethink that it could be different (not ‘better’: that’s is from our point of view) and in the end contribute to the reduction of fatalities.

To make myself aware and to take you with me: why do we as TNT and Fleet Forum create awareness about Road Safety? By creating this awareness we save a lot. First of all people are saving their lives. Secondly, a reduction of long term family consequences of road traffic crashes: including cost of medical care and rehabilitation; funeral expenses; and the loss of the bread winners. Thirdly, there is less strain on national health systems. And lastly, improving personal behavior on roads contributes to a healthier population in general.

It will take a while to embed as well for Indian people as well as for us get the sense of urgency. But how long did it take you and me to learn driving (not to get your drivers license by paying Rs4000 = €68 as they do here) in a (safe) environment. Or are we still learning… (haven’t you had a penalty…? I did.) The impact is much bigger when you don’t learn it because you have to, but because you find it valuable to learn.

A recommendation of a new Project Manager: reside in the fact that awareness in road safety will take a while. It is impossible fumbling the roots of a whole society… and please do not try to: it is beautiful out here, as my landlady here said: one would love the freedom, the people, the colours and ... the chaos.

Due to the emerging economy we need to START, today not tomorrow. Let’s START and do not SOME THING but do SOMETHING we call it: Awareness in Road Safety.

So right now after sharing my first week with you… it is time to take the papers and start reading about Fleet Forum, WFP, WHO and Unicef!