With the Formula-1 2008 season picking up steam, I wonder why we in India or Delhi for that matter have not been able to produce a single Formula-1 champion till date? I mean you have to see the driving ‘skills’ of some of the drivers in Delhi which can put a Lewis Hamilton or Fernando Alonso to shame. On any typical day in Delhi’s lean and mean streets, you will come across this variety of drivers who honk their horns with such gusto as if everyone of them has a flight to catch to some corner of the globe. The minute the light turns green, you have to give them the right of way or be prepared for physical, mental and verbal abuse and/or get your car’s derriere spanked. The scene gets more interesting if there is no policeman around. Then Jungle Law prevails, where Might is Right. The larger the vehicle you drive, the greater seems to be your say and prestige on the road. May God help you if you are riding a two-wheeler with your family. Many of these particular breed of drivers come from rich and occasionally super-rich families who drive around in swanky cars with even swankier girlfriends. As soon as they hit a smooth stretch of road, their vehicles seem to shift to a take-off mode. Many of them do not even own driving licences, but what the heck? Songs blare from their vehicles with such ferocity which even a rampaging herd of elephants would find difficult to match. They drive as if they own the road and everything on it.
But there are always two sides of a coin. Instead of the government trying to go after these errant drivers, it would do better to groom them into future Formula-1 champs. We only had Narain Karthikeyan in Formula-1 and he also could not exactly set the tracks on fire. So, why waste this precious talent? The government would do well to organize practice races every day on Delhi’s roads to hone the driving skills of these errant(or should we say gifted !) drivers and select the best ones out of the ‘worst’. Now you may be thinking what about the pedestrians? To that I can only say, “what pedestrian thinking”?
But there are always two sides of a coin. Instead of the government trying to go after these errant drivers, it would do better to groom them into future Formula-1 champs. We only had Narain Karthikeyan in Formula-1 and he also could not exactly set the tracks on fire. So, why waste this precious talent? The government would do well to organize practice races every day on Delhi’s roads to hone the driving skills of these errant(or should we say gifted !) drivers and select the best ones out of the ‘worst’. Now you may be thinking what about the pedestrians? To that I can only say, “what pedestrian thinking”?
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