The Red Signal

It was during the time of Thrissur pooram. I was in a hurry to reach home. I missed the Kottayam bus on 11 a.m since I had many works in the college. Time gone... Finally I get into the Thiruvananthapuram express on 4.30 p.m. Next day, I have to go to the pooram sample fireworks and I was very much excited though the cold climate of Wayanad covers the bus. My parents were very much tensed since they couldn't make any calls to me and finally  I reached home at 12 a.m. The next day evening, though I was tired by the journey, I go to the sample fireworks along with my parents.    

Usually the town will be very much crowded during the pooram season. No vehicles will be permitted to the Swaraj round which is the heart of the city. The fireworks will take place in the Thekkinkad maithan. The reason behind this is that all the fest related works should be performed in front of the Vadakumnathan. We parked the car far away from the town and started walking quickly with an aim to cross the railway track before closing it. Unfortunately, the gate closed the moment we reached in front of it. While waiting there, I saw a shocking scene. All the people didn't allowed to close the gate and many others open the gate as their wish and once the gate get locked, many of them get stuck on the track.  Without bothering about the life, they were rushing towards the railway track. The one and only aim of all those fools were to be there on time for the sample fireworks. Then a lady started stopping the passengers from crossing the track by shouting on them. All of them were stop for a while surprisingly looking at the lady. At that moment, the guard closed the railway gate. These were all happened within a few seconds. Thus all of them who were there had a hair-breadth escape. 

Why people are so careless in these matters? May be they were giving more value to present day happiness and they were seeing the life as the cheapest one. It is this careless attitude of indiscipline commuters which leads to death. They are not only making their own life but also a thousand other lives at risk. We can always see a mismatch between rules and actual practice. A past success of violating a rule make the people confident in violating the rules again. The people always tends to violate all kinds of "DON'Ts." 

The passenger lighting the cigarette soon after the train have left is a usual scene. The above shown board is familiar to all of us. Smoking was banned since October 2, 2008. Still, we can see people smoking in front of these sign boards. Many of them were paying the fine in advance for smoking in public places. Similarly there are also people who dump waste around the sign board which warns us not to. 

Here, the matter goes like this. Initially, a person will come with a small chips packet and dump it. On seeing a packet on a clean premise, the next person come with a huge junk and throws it. This continues until it becomes a garbage center. There was actually two options for the second person. Either to dump the waste or not to repeat the mistake and clean the premises if any waste is found. So I think the problem lies in the attitude of the people.  

At every corner of place (especially at railway station and bus stand), we can see the dirty stains of spitting. People usually never give a second thought while spitting through the window of a moving bus. These are only a few examples. On a thorough analysis, we can see many such violations. 

Thus these people with zero civic sense should feel ashamed of themselves for not being able to self educate on how to behave in public places.