Everyday as I come into VT station and then board the bus to Nariman Point. And everyday I am deflated at the sight of lines breaking down. I really hate seeing these lines break down. This is a phenomenon we see everywhere around India. People just don’t want to stay in line. I don’t really blame them.
My theory for this :) – inadequacy and unpredictability. If there are adequate bus services for all to reach in (relative) comfort and if the buses come predictably on time, there wouldn’t be a mad rush. People would wait for their turn, offer their spots to the weaker ones and generally be cordial to each other. The cordial quotient goes up significantly when the services are running at off hours when the capacity is more than demand. Afternoons and early mornings are a case in point. Once they are convinced about the adequacy and predictability of their seat they are likely to be much more polite and even magnanimous to one and other. Look at when you board long distance trains. There is a chaos when you are trying to get in at the start. People jostling, making demands on their luggage space, seats etc. They are generally rude and pushy. After they are seated and are secure they get so cordial, happy, sharing food, jokes and … you get the point.
So as long as the services that are run are run with predictability (system heavy) and adequacy (resource heavy) you would have fairly happy people. Even in temples.
When people know that the temple will remain open and all will get a decent darshan (and Prasad) the devotee are epitomes of their sect. But when the time is limited (inadequate) or the temple is being closed for Pooja or something (unpredictable), or when the line is inordinately long (inadequate) or the a few lucky ones will get special Prasad (unpredictable), things will go wrong. Even Santas who will have enough chocolates for all the kids in the store will not be besieged and tugged at, but will see sweet kids standing properly in line. All the stores have to do is ensure that the santa comes on time, has enough chocolates for all and stays back till every kid is mat and patted. Just ensure you don’t have kids waiting for too long and get restless in the process (inadequate)
There: adequacy and predictability leading to world peace.
Small deviation from mean - When people see their friends back in the line they call them in front. Even in the lift line. If you so desperately want to meet them and chat up then go behind to them, don’t call them in front. That is a human empathy problem. Nothing I can do about it.
a mail I recieved from a friend on the post:-
ReplyDeletehi,
i read your "world peace" blog. and i just want to say that i think you (and the rest of the world) would be awfully bored if everything were adequate and predictable. what would we complain about? :) would you be ok with routine, without any deviation? if every day you woke up and the same thing happened at the same time at the same place, i bet you'd be bored. so bored that you'd do something out of the ordinary, something so crazy just so shake it up. i guess what i'm saying is that i don't think we should have adequacy or predictability. it's more fun when it's all crazy. and then you get to see the really kind people, who despite the craziness, still want to give up their seat for someone older.
i still really liked the blog. just thought i'd tell you my bit.
MY answer:-
ReplyDeletehehehhe. sure. predictable and adequate is surely boring. i agree with you. everything was such then there would be no blog putting all the surprises in perspective :). but i surely want the civic services to predictable and adequate. thats all. Add to that one more thing - my paycheck. rest i can live with - inadequate attention, unpredictable tantrums, inadequate clothes, unpredictable jokes, inadequate work, unpredictable games... you get the drift. BUT I STILL WANT MY BUS TO COME ON TIME AND I WOULD RATHER NOT HAVE TO SMELL THE ARMPITS OF THE CROWD. everything else remaining equal - i am fine :D
I disagree with the assertion that it is just inadequacy an unpredictability that drives this crazy behavior of Indians in India(*).
ReplyDeleteTake traffic for example, even when the roads are adequately wide and regulated traffic movement is fairly predictable, we still end up with traffic jams only because of idiots who want to just move ahead a few centimeters more (for whatever sense of accomplishment they derive out of it) or seem to be in such a hurry to get where they want to, a few seconds earlier.
Take litter as another example. I *absolutely hate* people who carelessly dump various wrappers, boxes, packaging all over the roads. If they even care to look around, there are adequate dust-bins all over the place, and it is fairly predictable that pan-tapris and various road side vendors would have some sort of a dust bin (or a corner to collect garbage, at the very least). In fact, the location of these things even are predictable. ...but that does not translate to lesser garbage on the streets.
IMHO, the biggest problem is apathy and a lack of civic responsibility.
A lot of Indians see public infrastructure as their own only in terms of ownership (ie: baap ka ...), but not in terms of responsibility.
This is the reason why we push, shove and moan about the crowded trains, but not feel in any way responsible for it. In the end it is us who make crowd (directly) as well as the late trains (indirectly).
(*) Note that i said it is 'Indians in India' -- the very same people are the
most gracious and agreeable when placed in a surrounding where they do not have
a feeling of ownership.
I see your point lone twin.
ReplyDeleteAdequacy and predictability weren’t supposed to actually signify world peace but I thought it’s a start. I have held this belief that you get the civic behavior you deserve. I have always believed that bad design and ill thought through implementation would lead to the chaos we see. Two theories have made an impact on my thoughts – one Broken Windows which was popularized by Malcolm Gladwell in Tipping Point, which basically asserts that we unchecked symbols of anarchy however small can lead to greater chaos. He also explained the same through the example of clean of crime in NYC through the same principle. Second – I read this book called Design of Everyday Things by Donald Norman. Here Donald tries to explain design led functionality. It makes things easier and more user friendly. His simple rule which struck me was that if you need to explain how to use it then you have not designed it well. There are brilliant examples of doors and other everyday items that exhibit good design.
Add to my inherent belief that people are inherently good and willing to make a difference to the world around them. Wikipedia, free OS, rising number of NGO’s in India etc point to this trend.
Possibly peer pressure is also why Indians in India behave differently than Indians abroad.
Given these beliefs I consistently take this internal locus of control stands that put responsibility in the hands of those who provide for these services. If well designed and implemented it might eliminate these issues we see. Predictability here can be used (very broadly) with simplicity or functionality. Can good design help? Do we think that large red dustbins which are emptied twice a day shame us into throwing crap correctly. Will we have enough groundswell that if we do see someone throw something incorrectly, we will pick it up and dispose it correctly? It something like Munnabhai meets George Kelling meets Donald Norman meets Jimmy Wales.
Another lovely incident experiment comes to my mind. Dan Ariely in his book ‘Predictably Irrational’ talks about an experiment (simply put) where he saw students substantially reduce cheating in a test if they were just made to recollect the Ten Commandments before taking the test.
Hmmm… the problem in India of people spitting and urinating is addressed by many places in the form of strategically placed images of Gods and Goddesses. Can we find many such ways to enforce civic sense?
Adequacy and predictably I use as a type of deign. Adequacy for resource design and predictability for functional design.
Probably it’s too simplistic and the good old cane shots and hefty fines would suffice. Probably I am an optimist. But I have a romantic notion of design being the alternative to Big Brother.