How many of the readers have played car racing games in their childhood? Raise your hands! Yes, as suspected, 80% of the readers have played car racing games. Well, then you know how competitive we used to get. I remember playing these games with my cousins. My cousin, Utkarsh da, is an excellent video games player. He is only six months older than me. When we were kids, he used to cross several stages within a matter of hours, and we were left waiting for our turn. Not that it bothered me; I have always been more of an observer than a participant. Anyway, I saw him pushing the cars running in front of his car, pushing them sideways to get ahead in the race, among other things. What I never saw in those games was any driver stepping out to argue, beat, punch, kick, or kill the guy who caused a DENT in his precious vehicle. Well, the real picture is far more brutal than those games. Probably, latest games may have incorporated this violence and intolerance to add the real life factor — not that, I know of!

Sitting in the comfort of my car, I love observing other drivers. Unfortunately, I have observed many sophisticated and classy looking drivers turning into morons at the sound of one hit or the sight of one dent. They think that they look hot; I wish somebody could tell them that at that moment, even a person dressed in rags appeals more. Behind the shades of Gucci, Diesel, and even the local brands, the eyes of these vehicle lovers are focused on each inch of their own vehicle, they prey on the dent makers, and don’t rest until they see verbal or physical violence. In my six years of commute to the office, there hasn’t been one single day when I have not witnessed at least one case of road rage –some big and some minor. Of course, there is a slight exaggeration in the above statement , but, trust me, real statistics are not far behind. Watch the news, and you will notice that this is not really an overstatement.

Watch the news, and you will notice that this is not really an overstatement. When Bollywood actor, Amir Khan, mentioned that intolerance has increased, people began demanding his head.  I wonder if this set of people do not watch the news or do they think that they can never be on news addressing their own misery. I, on the other hand, watch news wearing my heart on the sleeves. Every victim’s tragedy  scares me to death. I pray that nobody needs to go through violence and that may God give sense to the criminals to see what their brutal acts do to others. However, now my prayers are not limited to just criminals; I beg the almighty to prevail patience in every person. One guy was beaten to death in the middle of the road because his bike touched the car of an “I-am-above-all” maniac. The dead man was a father of a kid, not more than a few months. The irony is that this guy was a doctor, but he could not save himself against these morons. Another, a very recent, incident highlights how a renowned person shot a 12th standard boy because he dared overtake him. Imagine his audacity! Disgusting people, to say the least! One petition is circulating on social media to seek justice for that young boy. I signed the petition and shared the same on FB, but I wondered how many of us are hypocrites when it comes to road rage. How many of us are signing the petition and cursing that pompous man, and yet, when the opportunity arises, we indulge in thrashing another person for putting a scar on our beloved vehicle? Is a scar on our car or bike more precious than a life? We can fix our vehicle, but can we fix a family that was disrupted due to our acts of violence? It’s something to think about, isn’t it?

I tried to imagine what goes in the head of these anger possessed “humans” (it hurts me to call them by this word, but, technically, this is what they are), and the product of my imagination goes like this,

A guy, let’s call him Ramesh, puts a dent on  my car. I stop my car immediately, and, as an unsaid rule, Ramesh stops, too. I look at the mark, my cheeks turn red with hot rage, and I can’t imagine driving this junk anymore. I look at Ramesh’s face. He is mumbling something about this not being his fault. “Of course, it isn’t your fault. I scarred my car, all by myself. Look at what you’ve done,” I shout. He defends himself, and that moron can’t even see that dent on my car. He deserves to be punished. Fortunately, I have a backup in my car. I was driving with a gun because that’s how I roll. Well, next thing you know, I am famous, and he is dead. What happens to his family is none of my concern. He should have thought of his family before touching my car with his stupid cheap car. I would find a loophole in the system and would be released. Perhaps, I would not find a hole in the system, then I would serve some sentence, but it’s all worth it. I defended the honor of my car. I would not feed my own family until I am in prison, but who cares!

Do you see how moronic I sound? I am surprised that these shouting, screaming, kicking, slapping, punching, murdering people don’t see it. There is a chaos on the roads. Irrespective of the turn you take, it follows you. Vehicles have become more precious than lives — possibly, because of the money we spend to buy these or due to the fact that some people cover their vehicles with their honor. Whatever may the reason be, road rage has become an everyday activity. I am sure, some of the readers, who themselves have participated in road rages, would try to counter their own actions by coming up with very smart answers, but I wonder if any reason is worth the pain that we impart on another human being.

Today, when we advocate humanity, are we really treasuring lives or a piece of metal? What evil possess us when we see a dent on our vehicle? Can we put our anger on hold at these incidents? I think the better question is, do we want to bottle our anger? Roads have become battlegrounds, and we have become gladiators. Not in a good way, though! Then we thrash the person who points out that intolerance has increased. Read a newspaper, guys! It has increased and would continue to increase until we learn to value lives.

P.S. This post is in response to the daily post prompt: Chaos