"A surprise will disturb you today. Travel seems to be on the cards. Landmark projects will come your way which will open new horizons. Professional recognition is soon to come."
Madelyn Speer smiled to herself. These Airline in-house magazines and their horoscopes ! Looks like the same joker writes them for all the Airlines ! All are equally self contradicting, and in the attempt to appear enigmatic all of them sound equally goofy as well. How can a surprise disturbing you and opening of new horizons happen in the same breath ? The only sensible statement in that paragraph was about travel. But then there is no horoscope in that right. If someone is reading an Airline's in-house magazine, definitely travel is on the cards - he or she IS travelling !
This was going to be Madelyn's second visit to India. India had looked like a perfect case in context for her research, but sadly there were no takers in the India for the topic of her research. In fact most found it funny ! Madelyn was disheartened, but she believed an idea can only gain acceptance when its time has come. And history has proved that nobody can truly predict when an idea's time will come ...
Madelyn was a research scholar in Statistics, and specialized in detailed analysis of road traffic. A German by birth, she had spent most of her early life in Brazil. She moved back to Germany with her parents when she was 18, but she always remembered the crazy road traffic of Rio De Janiero. More so when driving thru the smooth traffic of Berlin. What made the difference - she always wondered. She was sure it wasn't the number of vehicles as many believe. The density of traffic per unit distance is what should be seen, not the absolute numbers. And Berlin had a higher density than Rio. The discipline of driving was surely a key factor, but she always felt there was something above individual discipline which was needed. Probably someone sitting 10000 feet above, observing the traffic as a flow and constantly advising the drivers below like a commentator !
These thoughts mixed with her interest in statistical analysis took her to in-depth analysis of road traffic, and she became a specialist in advising transport authorities on solving complex traffic problems across major cities of the world. Bottleneck analysis, Collective impact of timings of traffic signals, causes and impact of "Peak Hours" etc became her topics of focus and she earned a good name for herself in this field.
The first visit to India was a leisure trip - a close friend from Berlin settled in Pune was getting married. However when she landed in Bombay and headed by road to Pune, the mad Bombay traffic instantly triggered her academic interests. It really made her forget Rio. Many times more chaotic, and many times more unpredictable - this was a different phenomenon altogether. Crossing a 2 kilometer stretch at Sion and a 1 kilometer stretch at Chembur took 45 minutes each ! Closely spaced Red lights and malfunctioning traffic signals were still parameters known to her as contributing towards traffic jams. Religious processions, political "dharnas" and busy roads dug up since last 5 years for "Monorail work" were a first. By the time she reached Pune, she was already writing a research paper in her head on possible solutions to Bombay traffic jams. Meeting the assistant traffic commissioner of Bombay at the wedding looked like a serendipity, and she was sure her ideas will excite the senior bureaucrat.
Sadly, the assistant traffic commissioner's mind was more choked than the traffic she had just experienced. Completely closed to any idea or any analysis on improving Bombay's traffic conditions, the bureaucrat only looked amused and later a bit irritated by Madelyn's thoughts. Madelyn tried to meet some more professionals in related fields on the matter, but saw only cynicism and indifference. The India chapter looked closed.
This Indian episode was 3 years old story. She has almost forgotten about it and had immersed her in new projects, when she received a call from the headquarters of one of the "Big 3" German auto manufacturers - Wolfwagen. Their Indian arm needed help, and needed it urgently. Details were confidential, to be shared in person when she met the MD of Wolfwagen India - Mr Schroeder, at Bombay.
Announcement that the flight was about to land at the Bombay international airport broke her chain of thoughts. "Another plunge into the crazy Bombay traffic" She thought " It surely must have gone from bad to worse "
She was amazed to see the contrary. "Well the horoscope was right AND wrong. This is a surprise for sure, and not disturbing all !" She said to herself
She remembered from her last visit - the area around the international airport was one of the craziest in Bombay. But it just looked completely different now. The traffic was following 3 clear lanes. All three wheelers including the nasty black and yellow auto rickshaws were keeping the leftmost lanes. Buses and other larger vehicles were at the middle, and all the cars were driving in the rightmost lane. And everyone was driving without cutting each other's lane - patiently following the specified speed for their lane. Overtaking was rare, and was only happening with due signals and after the vehicles being overtaken giving side.
" Am I dreaming " Madelyn said to herself. Stupid thoughts of checking her boarding pass if it was Bombay or someplace else she had landed ran past her. "Something has drastically changed".
She couldn't resist asking the driver. "How come the Bombay traffic is so disciplined today" She asked. "Well Madam" the driver replied " After all everybody loves their vehicle, and most love themselves too !"
Before Madelyn could dig deeper into the enigmatic comment, the driver gasped looking at something in the rear view mirror. Madelyn looked back. A white sedan just behind them had cut its lane. It raced ahead and bypassing 3 vehicles including Madelyn's cab and a black SUV forced its way right in front of a red small car, without giving any signals asking for side.
" Is he mad ! " The driver exclaimed " I will forgive him, and so will the small red car guy I guess. But I am not very sure of the black SUV guy.
And then it happened. The black SUV suddenly started ringing a loud siren, and several bright orange lights started blinking on its roof. The SUV raced ahead and came parallel to the white sedan. Then, as Madelyn watched in horror, a thick metallic rod, sharpened from the front, shot out from the SUV and broke its way into the rear side door of the white sedan. The SUV then increased its speed, and the rod tore thru the side doors of the white sedan as the SUV went ahead. Everything happened within a matter of seconds.
The white sedan braked and stopped. The SUV was gone. Madelyn was surprised to see that all the other cars in the lane including her own cab had already started to merge in the adjacent lane and were bypassing the white sedan. The traffic around had slowed down because of this, but it did not stop. As if everyone around saw this coming, and took actions accordingly.
Madelyn couldn't speak for many minutes. Stunned, she stared at the driver of her cab. He was shaking his head regretfully. " Some people just don't understand." He kept saying " They have to be taught the hard way".
Finally Madelyn managed to speak " Police will try and catch the black SUV right? " She said " Bombay police is proactive, I know it is. I had a good look at the SUV's number plate. Let us report it as soon as we come across a policeman, it may be of help in nabbing the crook ! "
" What are you talking about, madam" The driver exclaimed " It was the white sedan who broke the law. What the SUV did was perfectly legal."
" Are you out of your mind ? " Madelyn was aghast. Is he in his senses! " The SUV literally attacked the sedan. It tore apart the car's shell. Somebody could have died ! How can this be legal ? "
" You are a little excited Madam " The driver said calmly " I don't blame you, you are new to the country. A lot has changed in India when it comes to traffic. You will come to know soon. We have reached your Hotel; I suggest you get some sleep."
Madelyn couldn't sleep that night though. The questions in her head didn't allow her to. She looked forward to her meeting with the MD of Wolfwagen tomorrow. He may have some answers.
The MD, Mr Schroeder, was a tough looking but soft spoken man in his late forties.
" So how was your journey " Mr Schroeder asked.
"Well, the journey from the international airport to the Hotel was much more turbulent than the one from Berlin to Bombay" Madelyn replied with a faint smile
Mr Schroeder chuckled " It seems you have already witnessed the latest changes on the Indian roads."
Madelyn described the incident of yesterday night. Mr Schroeder face became heavy as he heard the story
" Well so you already have some background of why have we called you here " He said " And yes, your cab driver was right. What the Black SUV guy did is legal in India these days. It is unthinkable, but its a reality and how it became a reality is an interesting story.
In India, till about two years back nobody gave much thought to traffic jams, their root causes and possible solutions. Jams were seen as an unavoidable evil, and everybody just tried to accept them. However, an incident took place at the Bombay Pune expressway which changed everything.
You mentioned you had been to Pune in your last visit, so I think you have seen the Mumbai Pune expressway. There are tunnels on this expressway, the longest one more than a kilometer in length. On this fateful day, at a point where the tunnel was about to end, a gas tanker and an SUV bumped into each other. The SUV was trying to overtake the tanker when suddenly the tanker driver saw an obstacle on the road and changed his lane abruptly. The SUV took a minor brush on its bonnet. However I guess the brush on the SUV owner's ego was not minor. He overtook the tanker and while the tanker was still in the tunnel, blocked its way and started fighting with the driver. Bombay Pune Expressway being a busy one, within a matter of minutes there was a long jam behind them, in the entire tunnel.
What no one realized was that the tanker was carrying an inflammable gas and was leaking. It wouldn't have mattered much in open air, but because the tanker was still not out of the tunnel, the leaking gas got trapped inside the tunnel. The traffic jam, which looked like any other jam, had turned into a live bomb within minutes, with vehicles trapped in the tunnel and the air inside the tunnel heavy with the inflammable gas. All it took for this bomb to explode was someone bored of being stuck in the jam stepping out of his car and lighting a cigarette "
" Jesus !" Madelyn exclaimed
" Yes, it was terrible. " Mr Schroeder continued. " Fire spread immediately in the entire tunnel. While the vehicles with their windows open had the maximum casualties due to fire, those with the windows closed had casualties due to passengers inhaling Carbon Mono oxide generated due to the fire outside.
The rescue teams had a nightmare unprecedented in history. Starting point of the tunnel was choked with cars. The other end of the tunnel had the tanker leaking with gas, now burning and emitting flames like the mouth of a volcano. Since the affected vehicles were trapped inside the tunnel, the aerial option of rescuing thru helicopters was also ruled out. It took more than 24 hours to reach the first set of affected people...."
" Please don't describe any more" Madelyn stopped Mr Schroeder. Her eyes were moist. She covered her face with her hands, trying to come to terms with what she had just heard.
" Sorry, I won't " Mr Schroeder said, offering a glass of water to Madelyn.
He continued after sometime, skipping any more details of the tragedy.
" The incident shook the nation's conscience. There was a huge outcry but for once, instead of playing blame game, everyone agreed that the real villain was neither the tanker driver nor the SUV guy. Real villain was the very phenomenon called traffic jam. It looked like something good will finally come out of the unfortunate incidence and the government will take concrete steps to make sure there are lesser traffic jams in the times to come.
Many solutions were proposed. There were suggestions to exponentially increase policing on roads - but this would have only had a superficial impact, and was thus rejected. Then there were suggestions to take up a nationwide drive to sensitize and educate motorists - an effective solution but rejected being a high resource consuming one, and also because it would have taken a long time for its impact to show on ground. Unfortunately, the nature of governance is such that all Governments are inclined towards steps which bring immediate results with minimum resource utilization. The government was also running out of time since it knew that one more major traffic jam like the expressway one and they were gone for good. It was in such times that a radical idea was thrown in the ring. A very, very radical idea. In normal times, there is no way the idea would have been even considered. But these were not normal times, and thus the idea became a grave reality."
Madelyn was highly intrigued. Something told her this radical idea had something to do with what she saw yesterday.
" The idea was this " Mr Schroeder went on. " Clearly the root cause of most traffic jams was driver indiscipline - cutting lanes, stopping arbitrarily on the road etc. However, neither policing, nor training nor awareness could bring discipline immediately to the millions of motorists in India. The only thing which could bring an immediate and consistent result was Fear - fear of immediate retribution on driving in an in-disciplined manner. And following this thought process Government enforced the Motor Vehicles ( Amendment ) Act 2017 - with an added section describing Regularization of Road Rage."
Madelyn's was taken aback. Regularization of Road Rage !! Was this really what she was thinking ?
" As per this section, if any motorist indulges in Lane cutting, overtaking without signalling or stopping arbitrarily on a running road, the other motorists around are allowed to attack this motorist's vehicle. The mode of this attack is defined – it has to be thru special “Road Rage accessories” fitted in the attacking vehicle. Any kind of manual attack is forbidden. It was also mandated that Road rage accessories will have to be fitted only at factories or authorized service centers of listed Car companies.
Goes without saying, there was a loud hue and cry from several sections of the society against Road Rage Regularization. All car companies operating in India opposed it. However the emotional build-up around the Pune Expressway incidence was such that all such voices got subdued.
As soon as the act was enforced, the fear factor did work and traffic discipline showed an immediate improvement across the country. However for a few months nothing different really happened on roads. This was because fitting Road rage accessories in cars was technically a daunting task. It required significant design changes in the vehicle. Since the auto companies were not in favour of this amendment, nobody was taking initiative on doing these design changes. And even if somebody thought of doing them, he had the apprehension that a variant with Road rage accessories fitted will cost higher than the normal variants, and the price conscious Indian customer will reject it. Opponents of the Amendment took a momentary sigh of relief, as Road rage accessories becoming a reality looked almost impossible.
However, competition can be a true villain sometimes; and competition in the Indian Car industry cut throat. It was just a matter of time before one of the Japanese player who wasn't selling much in India but was desperate to do so started offering cars with Factory fitted Road rage accessories. Although these variants were not very expensive, they were not very reasonably priced also and all other players thought this will be a dud. But this proved to be one more instance when companies couldn't read the mind of the Indian customer correctly. Fortunes of the Japanese company changed overnight! The Indian customer showed a huge appetite for Road Rage vehicles. And as always happens, the moment other companies saw a market for Road rage vehicles, many players jumped into the ring. This is the point from where the story gets really, really scary.
Today, 70% of all the car companies operating in India offer Road Rage accessories. The design of these accessories started with a very basic metallic rod mounted on the front bumper. One end of the rod was hinged to the bumper, while the other end was kept movable. On activation by a button given on the dashboard, the non-hinged end of the rod shot sidewards and could hit an adjacent vehicle within range. This caused minor dent on the attacked vehicle, at max broke its headlight.
The speed with which these accessories have evolved is mind boggling. Nowadays you get battery operated drills mounted on vehicles, for crying out loud! I sometimes feel the only reasons why we still don’t have rifles mounted on cars is cost considerations !!"
Madelyn was stunned. It was just too much to absorb. " There must have been a bloodbath on roads " She mumbled.
" Well, not really " Mr Schroeder said with a faint smile " We were predicting a bloodbath too, especially after hammer and projectile based Road rage accessories were added to the list. But the complex and unpredictable Indian customer surprised us yet again, this time for good. Although highly enthusiastic about getting the road rage accessories, overall the Indian user has been judicious in their use. Cases of the accessories being used wrongly, excessively or casually haven't been many. In most cases the Indian motorist has used the accessories only when there has been a violation as per the amended Act.
My thought is that there is also an overarching reason for this subdued use of Road rage accessories. Unpleasant as it may sound, truth is that the theory of Fear of retribution bringing discipline on Indian roads has actually worked. Indians are driving in lanes for the first time! Number of jams has gone down heavily. Since reasons for road rage are that much less, less are the instances of Road rage attacks. At least less than expected !
Having said this, the cases which do happen are quite horrifying . People have been severly injured, even killed. This one Road rage attack happened in one of the hilly roads. The attacking vehicle attacked so vehemently that the attacked vehicle fell off the road, 1000 feet deep into the valley ! In many cases, one road rage attack leads to multiple minor accidents in bumper to bumper traffic. The horrors seem less because we expected something much more terrible, but whatever happens is still sufficient to change the way Auto Industry operates in India."
" How ? " Madelyn asked
" Well, to start with warranty costs have gone off the roof." Mr Schroeder replied " Insurance companies have been quick in making sure damages due to road rage are almost never compensated by them. Initially the car makers also tried to safeguard themselves from compensating road rage damages, but the competition is such that it didn't work out for long. Some or the other manufacturer always took a lead in covering road rage attacks under warranty to boost their sales. And when one started, others had to follow suit.
A larger point is, road rage accessories have become an overbearing factor when it comes to selling passenger vehicles in India. As the attacking accessories grew, there was a parallel growth in defensive accessories also. Thicker sheet metal had to be used for making the cars' shell. Special cushions at vulnerable spots and stronger glasses had to be offered. These all ultimately added to the manufacturer's cost, and in a price conscious market like India a significant portion of the increased cost can never be transferred to the customer. Eventually everybody is bleeding. And us German players are bleeding the most."
" Why is that ? " Madelyn asked. It looked like Mr Schroeder was coming closer to the purpose of calling her to India
" You are a German yourself, Madelyn " Mr Schroeder said " So you know how headstrong we Germans are.When this Road rage accessory episode started, all of us German car manufacturers in India agreed to never offer Road Rage accessories, come what may. And we are abiding by that. But our sales are dipping heavily due to this. And of course warranty cost and Road rage defense accessory cost are only increasing by the day. Hence us German manufacturer are bleeding the most. The business is simply getting unsustainable !
Over and above this, there is a larger concern. And that is about our Brand perception. German Car brands in India once stood for strength and toughness. They are now perceived as vulnerable, even weak. Now that most vehicles have road rage accessories, one of the biggest deterrent to a road rage attack is the apprehension of a counter attack. However, with our vehicles this apprehension is not there. Everybody known that if its a German car it will not have road rage accessories, which makes our cars a soft target. Our customers always feel hunted while driving. This is a such a jolt to our Brand image, that I can't describe. It really pains ..."
Mr Schroeder paused. Madelyn looked at him. Even his stoic German face could not hide the pinch he was feeling in his heart. " We Germans are passionate about our machines " Madelyn said to herself "And will always be ..."
" This is where we need you, Madelyn" Mr Schroeder continued. " We strongly feel the answer to our problem doesn't lie in defense or offense accessories any more. It has to be something bigger. Something unique and far reaching, a game changer which makes the way traffic moves in India even better, and that too in a positive manner. And something in which we Germans can take the lead and regain our lost ground."
Madelyn was intrigued, her mind was revisiting all the traffic problem projects she had done in the past.
" What do you have in mind, Mr Schroeder" She asked " As you have mentioned, even though in a negative way, Road rage regularization has made Indian traffic disciplined and has removed most traffic snags. Is there scope left for a game changer is what I am wondering."
" I would like to believe there is " Mr Schroeder replied " And I will tell you where I see this scope. It is true that Road Rage Regularization has been highly effective in removing traffic jams caused due to undisciplined driving. Where it has proved ineffective is avoiding traffic jams due to unforeseen and unavoidable bottlenecks on the road. For example, Road rage regularization cannot help in a traffic jam caused due to a large vehicle breaking down in the middle of the road. It also cannot help in a traffic jam caused due to a random religious procession being carried out on the road - something which happens very frequently and very irresponsibly in India. These are the situations where I see a scope. In these kind of jams most of the motorists have no way of knowing why has the jam occurred. Even if they guess its an unforeseen bottleneck, there is no way for them to know the exact location of the bottleneck, and are hence unable to move towards the unblocked lanes, or take an alternative route. What they end up doing is muddling their way thru the jam. In this situation, Road rage regularization doesn't help; in fact it proves counterproductive. Since everybody is driving confused, someone or the other ends up cutting someone else's lane. Road rage attacks follow, and worsen the already bad situation."
Madelyn got the point. As Mr Schroeder was reaching towards the end of this narrative, her mind had already started to run. Options had started crossing her. An advanced GPS which gives idea of traffic situation ahead ? Not a mass product - Too costly. And Indians as a whole aren't the most tech savvy bunch. Another option - Location enabled directory, which will flash the phone number of traffic police authorities responsible for traffic in the choked area ? Affected motorists can then call the traffic police, understand about the jam and take decisions accordingly. May work, but will depend on correctness of government records and the smartness of the local traffic police. Both are unreliable sources in India - to say the least ! What can it be ... Nothing seemed to hit the bull's eye.
" You can take your time " Mr Schroeder's voice broke her chain of thought. " I can see that your mind is already flush with thoughts. Please take your time and space and think thru. I am sure you will give us the game changer which we so badly need."
Madelyn came out of Mr Schroeder' s office overwhelmed with the trust endowed on her, and strongly committed to deliver what was expected out of her.
She decided she will go back to her hotel, will immerse herself with ideas and analysis and will stay confined her into the Hotel room till she doesn't come out with an idea which can be called a Bull's eye. She called her cab driver and started for the hotel.
As she was going, lost in her thoughts, after about an hour or so she happened to look around and realized that she is in a totally unfamiliar area. She was certain this area never crossed while coming from the Hotel to Mr Schroeder's office. She got a little scared. She looked at the driver. He too looked baffled.
" Are you sure we are on the correct route ? " She asked the driver
After an unusually long pause, he breathed out a "Yes". It was the kind of uncertain Yes which is worse than a certain No !
Madelyn immediately took her phone out, and started the GPS. Didn't help - it got stuck on identifying current location itself. " Damn this GPS ! " She said, aloud. Being in international roaming, even her phone was on the mercy of local connectivity and bandwidth, which were clearly failing her at the moment.
" Don't worry madam " The driver said with a nervous smile " In India, asking somebody is the best GPS ! "
Even in the tense moment, Madelyn couldn't help a smile. Before she could put her thoughts together on who will be the best person to ask, the driver stopped the car at a random place and almost ran out of the car.
Madelyn looked in the direction he had gone. He was asking directions - to a local fish vendor! " Couldn't he think of a better advisor ? " Madelyn thought. Nervous, she started looking around for a policeman or another cab which could guide better. Neither were around.
The driver came back running, looking clearly relieved. " No worry madam. " He exclaimed " He told me a great shortcut from here."
" Well .. " Madelyn thought " I should just hope the fisherman is equally knowledgeable about the sea of Bombay roads also .... "
Her hope was to be found true. They were at her hotel after 10 minutes of an almost scary drive thru narrow lanes. She was pleasantly surprised. The fisherman was knowledgeable after all !
She couldn't help mentioning this to the cab driver " How come a roadside fisherman knew the route to a 7 star Hotel so well ? " She asked him
" Oh - he supplies fish here, Madam. Comes here daily. That is why he knew ! " The driver replied with a broad, victorious smile.
" And how did you decide he was the right person to ask ? " Madelyn asked with a little surprise in her voice.
" No I didn't know before going to him Madam " He said, grinning " But I have seen, asking address to anyone on the road helps 99% of the times."
Laughing, she got out of the cab and took a step towards the hotel entrance.
And that is when the idea struck her. She just stood there, running the idea numerous times in her head, till she was convinced that this indeed was the Bull's eye she was looking for ! Next moment, she found herself running to her hotel room, in a hurry to pen down the idea with proper evaluation around all aspects.
Same time, two days later, she was in the flight back to Berlin. Meeting with Mr Schroeder yesterday had gone really well. He had liked the idea, shown belief in it, and had thanked her for giving what they really needed. Fingers crossed, she was just wishing the idea works; that it proves itself to be an idea whose time has come !
To deliberately take her attention away from the idea, she grabbed the in-flight magazine. This happened to the the same airline she had taken while coming from Berlin, and so it happened to be the same magazine with the same horoscope !
" Why am I reading this again. " She said to herself " Its a monthly magazine, the horoscope won't change." But her impression of the horoscope had definitely changed. It had read - "A surprise will disturb you today. Travel seems to be on the cards. Landmark projects will come your way which will open new horizons. Professional recognition is soon to come." She had indeed been disturbed by a surprise the day she landed in Bombay. She just hoped the other parts of the horoscope stand true as well - that the project she had just accomplished proves to be a landmark one, and brings professional recognition !
Six months later, Madelyn was remembering this horoscope again, smilingly. It had proved to be true - every single word. An online article in front of her from Autoworld India's website was a solid proof. Autoworld India, a pioneer in Auto magazines in the Indian space, had run this as its cover story of the month. This is how the article read -
" Auto industry has been the pioneers in innovation, and within Auto industry the German players have always been the forerunners in Innovation. However, what they have brought this time to the Indian customer is a true game changer. A simple but incredibly effective accessory, the Car Communicator has become an instant rage in India.
Combination of a walky talky and an FM radio, the Car Communicator is an accessory which can be fitted in a car's dashboard. A Car Communicator enables motorists to have two way communication with other motorists driving on road within the radius of 2 kms. A voice enabled application, the Car Communicator records the message spoken by a motorist and broadcasts it to the other Car communicator devices within the 2 kms radius. The motorists at the receiving end may choose to attend to the message or ignore. If they choose to attend to it, they again have an option to listen to it or read it as text. A simple voice to text convertor inbuilt in the Car Communicator enables this.
When it was launched 3 months back, the Car Communicator found its maximum use in traffic jams caused due to unforeseen bottlenecks on the road. The jams caused due to such bottlenecks go kilometers in length, and the motorists far from the the bottleneck have no idea what bottleneck is causing the jam and where is the bottleneck situated. However the motorists who are crossing the bottleneck have this information. With the help of the Car Communicator, these motorists now had an option to spread the whereabouts of the bottleneck to motorists 2 kms behind them, stuck in the traffic. Basis this info, these other motorists could either align themselves towards the unblocked side of the road, or could take alternative routes well in advance. If the jam was longer than 2 Kms, these motorists could spread this information further back.
The typical Indian motorist prefers to find his way thru asking, and the Car Communicator tapped this tendency beautifully. Every motorist in a jam does not know alternative routes, but thru the Car Communicator those who knew alternative routes had an option to spread the information and help others around. The recipients were also more than happy to receive the help and follow.
This functionality, which was pioneered by the German players in India, immediately became very popular. And there was every reason for it to become so. A simple but effective idea was made possible thru German engineering expertise, also making sure that the accessory was economically priced. German car manufacturers, especially Wolfwagen, have witnessed a reversal in fortune since this offering has been introduced. Since currently only German manufacturers have this highly popular accessory, they are fast recovering the grounds lost to other players in the Indian Car market.
A positive twist in this success story is fast emerging, which will only make things better for the German players. Facebook has proved that when provided with a suitable platform, all of us have a huge appetite to network, communicate and share. Today the uses of Facebook are far and wide, and only increasing with time. The Car Communicator is proving to be a similar platform. What started with a single functionality of communicating to tackle traffic jams has evolved as a social media platform while we are in our cars. Considering the fact that many of us spend more time in our cars than in front of Facebook, the potential of this idea is huge. We have come to know that regular commuters to a common route have made Car Communicator groups thru which they exchange general messages, even jokes, while they are travelling in their cars. To support this kind of communication, the Germans were quick to provide a functionality in the car communicator thru which a message can be given a title, and in the title a specific car number can be mentioned. This way, although the message is broadcast to all Car Communicators in the 2 Kms radius, others can ignore it and only the passenger of that particular car can read and reply to the message. Autoworld India spoke to several users of Car Communicator as a social media platform, and all of them said they were enjoying this functionality immensely !!
Goes without saying that like Facebook, even this platform involves risks around breach of privacy and possible indecency. This is where the German car manufacturers' proactive engagement with the Indian Government even before the Car Communicator was launched has helped. The first positive move Government took when the German manufacturers approached them with the idea was to grant a particular radio frequency for the Car Communicator at a reasonable fees. As a second positive step, Government took responsibility of screening all communication which passes thru the Car Communicator frequency for violation of privacy or decency. The Germans have provided the government with a database where every Car Communicator is linked to the unique chassis number of that vehicle. Any indecent communication by a motorist thus results in his Car Communicator being immediately identified and blocked for a month. Repeat offenders run the risk of having their Car Communicators blocked forever. This is made clear to every customer who installs a Car Communicator, and a written undertaking is taken in this regard.
As happens for every new idea, there were naysayers for this idea as well. It was said that no one will help anyone on roads, and that the Car Communicator will be used more for indecent purposes than constructive ones. Thankfully, the Indian customer took almost no time to prove these naysayers wrong. Indian motorists are proving to be very helpful on roads thru their Car Communicators, and cases of indecent uses have been very minimal. Swift action even on these minimal cases of indecency have made sure that the Car Communicator remains a purposeful, clean and enjoyable medium of communication while we are in our cars, fighting the stress of driving...
We spoke to Mr Schroeder at length on this innovation. He expressed his happiness at the fact that the Car Communicator has not just reversed fortunes for Wolfwagen and other German manufacturers, but has also positively changed the way traffic moves in India. He gave a special mention to Ms Madelyn Speer, whose keen observation and innovative mind generated this path-breaking idea.
Autoworld India wishes to close this success story describing scenarioz from a possible future. It may be premature to visualize these scenarios, someone may also say that the two aspects being shown related actually bear no relationship with each other. But we choose to believe they do, and hence wish to describe this possible future to our readers. In this future, most cars in India have a Car Communicator installed. A study is done on the trend of number of Road Rage attacks in the country. It is found that the incidences have gone down steadily, month on month. It is believed that the Car Communicator is a factor behind this trend, and the reason given to explain this phenomenon is - we as human beings are much more likely to misunderstand each other, brush each other wrongly and be ruthless and vindictive when we have no channel of communication between us. The moment this channel is introduced, we have an outlet, and hence are less likely to attack each other. The Car Communicator proves to be one such channel on roads.
We take a liberty to describe some more futuristic scenarios on the same lines, believing that they will become a reality some day. Imagine, that it becomes a normal practice for a motorist to use the Car Communicator in sending a number specified message to motorists ahead of him, requesting for side, also adding the reason for hurry if any. He does the overtaking only when those ahead of him approve his request thru their Communicators, and hence there is no reason for road rage. There are instances where a motorist is carrying in his car a senior citizen who has suffered a massive Heart attack and is very critical. The hospital is 1.5 kms away. The traffic ahead is moving, but at a very slow pace. The motorist sends a desperate, emotional message thru his Car Communicator to all cars ahead of him, explaining the situation and urging all of them to to give him side. And the motorists ahead of him give way immediately. This motorist takes the senior citizen to the hospital in 1/10th of the time he would have otherwise taken. A life is saved.
We take a liberty to describe some more futuristic scenarios on the same lines, believing that they will become a reality some day. Imagine, that it becomes a normal practice for a motorist to use the Car Communicator in sending a number specified message to motorists ahead of him, requesting for side, also adding the reason for hurry if any. He does the overtaking only when those ahead of him approve his request thru their Communicators, and hence there is no reason for road rage. There are instances where a motorist is carrying in his car a senior citizen who has suffered a massive Heart attack and is very critical. The hospital is 1.5 kms away. The traffic ahead is moving, but at a very slow pace. The motorist sends a desperate, emotional message thru his Car Communicator to all cars ahead of him, explaining the situation and urging all of them to to give him side. And the motorists ahead of him give way immediately. This motorist takes the senior citizen to the hospital in 1/10th of the time he would have otherwise taken. A life is saved.
We wish these hypothetical scenarios become a reality soon. We also wish the Car Communicator All the Best in this journey of bringing us together on roads."
Madelyn's face was beaming as she finished reading the article. A feeling of achievement filled her. Smilingly, she said to herself - " I'd better start believing in airline magazines' horoscopes now ! "
