It was half an hour past midnight, half an hour into the 2008. A young ice cream vendor was braving the bitter cold in the hope of making a few more rupees and maybe set the tone for the New Year. A short distance away another man took the wheel of his car after partying and many drinks and sped to maybe another bash. In a case of Jungian synchronicity their paths met as the speeding car crashed into the ice cream cart. The ice candy man died; the other a journalist is out on bail.
Deaths occur everyday on Delhi streets. Yet what makes this case poignant is that the past week has been replete with warnings on drinking and driving particularly on New Year’s ever which has somewhat is a night with license to drink! That the man was a journalist is even more frightening. One would like to believe that education makes the world a safer place to live in but reality points to the opposite.
I wonder what it is that makes seemingly sensible people act with a total lack of responsibility? Is it arrogance or cockiness; is it total disregard for the other particularly when he or she belongs to the other side of the fence? Questions that do not seem to have obvious answers.
And yet one needs to find them!
