nati

Road Per Raahi Bhai Bhai

Here's an Idea! The next time soemone bumps your car , give that person a sticker, instead of getting into an almighty row.

At their Gurgaon office, Bharti Chadha and Vipin Suri, the aunt-nephew duo who started a quiet revolution called ‘Road Pe Raahi Bhai Bhai’ six months ago, are not surprised.

Every day brings stories like Nanda’s. “In 2008, 7,500 lives were lost due to rash driving and road rage in the NCR, and 17,000 others were seriously injured. So, this might take a little imagination—what if everybody driving on the road were brothers? Would we honk quite so much, or try to overtake or even come to blows with a driver if he were our brother?” asks Chadha, 50. The sticker is placed on the rear-view mirror, constantly reminding the driver to take it easy.

“We always wait for somebody else to take a stand on matters of our concern. This time, I decided to tackle road menace by doing something about it myself,” says Chadha. “The moment the phrase ‘Road Pe Raahi Bhai Bhai’ hit me, I knew this was it.” She began with an impromptu and unrehearsed session at the Delhi Airport taxi stand, and “the response from the cabbies was encouraging”. Soon, Suri, a businessman, and she were addressing gatherings at colleges and schools, BPOs and call centres, corporate offices and even temples. “Almost everybody wanted a sticker,” says Suri. Among the converts was Amit Agarwal, CEO of Amdel Technology, who says, “The sticker on my car has definitely kept me from getting into fights.”

The movement took off through word of mouth and online forums and blogs. As one blogger writers, “I don’t know if the sticker on my car influences others, but it definitely reminds me before I fall into the trap of honking and hurling abuses. I am still not 100 per cent sure that I will never react, but it is still under control.” Suri, a reformed road rage culprit who has even comes to blows with other drivers in Mauritius, says, “The message is to value the life of the other driver or pedestrian, to think of him as your own family member and to tackle provocation calmly and with compassion.”

The movement has got support from all walks of life, from Delhi University students who are enrolling in large numbers as volunteers to spread the message, to corporate bodies who are pitching in financially to people from Mumbai, Pune and even Italy who want stickers. Companies like Tricolite have mass ordered stickers for all their employees and office cars, but the most heartening stories are about the common man. Ishwar Bindal, a 50-year-old, was driving when he rammed into a biker. “The boy strode towards me, helmet in hand and fire in his eyes. Before he could hit me, I showed him the sticker. ‘Road Pe Raahi Bhai Bhai,’ he read aloud and began laughing. He said, he couldn’t hit me because I was his brother,” says Bindal.

To get a sticker, SMS Bhai to 59994 or log on to www.roadperaahibhaibhai.com