Are your children safe?

I never realised why. Why my parents made sure I travelled to school in a rickshaw, pulled by a man they trusted. It never occurred to me t...

I never realised why. Why my parents made sure I travelled to school in a rickshaw, pulled by a man they trusted. It never occurred to me to wonder why I always found myself travelling with my friends, who were also, coincidentally, our family friends. Or why there were only six of us in our rickshaw while the others were crammed to the roof with ten or more children, and with their bags hanging outside.

I was too busy enjoying my daily morning ride to school to be bothered with the details. I never realized why, when we had outgrown the rickshaw, our parents immediately decided to car-pool all of us to school rather than letting us fend for ourselves. We were different, and got branded as the fortunate children of affluent families.

The truth, however, is that we were all very unremarkably middle class. I never understood why my father refused to let me bicycle the four and a half kilometres to school every day, like many of my other friends. I fought tooth and nail, at the age fifteen, to secure the same rights and freedoms as my peers. My father’s concern for my safety, especially on the main road leading to the school which also happened to be a bus route fell on obstinately deaf ears. Eventually, I had my way. I was out of the hands of my parents, but their obsessional concern lingered on.

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Then I grew up. I commuted to my college by ferry in all kinds of weather, across the backwaters in Cochin. My parents asked me to find myself a more suitable mode of transportation. I was told that a personal vehicle was out of question. It had to be public transport for me!

The tragic, tragic fall of a school bus into the Yamuna river in Delhi finally cleared the mist. Now I know.

I know my parents were right in being concerned about my safety. Even though they had to spend more than they really needed to right through my childhood, they found comfort in the certainty that I was safe.

Now I know why my father-in-law insists on living in a locality where there’s a school nearby. He would rather his grandchildren walk to school or get dropped by their parents. Because we cannot trust anyone with our children anymore. No rickshaw puller, no bus driver, no one follows the rules of the road. Our peers are also devoid of all traffic sense. I fact, many of them are completely unaware of the existence of road rules.

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How many of us have tried to recklessly overtake a school bus or an auto-rickshaw full of schoolchildren — or an ambulance with its siren blaring, for that matter? How many of us slow down when we see a `School Ahead’ sign board? Nearly all of us are parents ourselves, and yet we disregard the safety measures and violate the traffic rules that were designed, among other things, to keep our children safe.

Today, our children need to be protected. We must send them to school with people we trust, even if it hurts our pocket a bit. What is money when it comes to the safety of children? When the distances involved are too great, we must not hesitate in demanding a good bus service from the school. Not just adequate, but good. Not just a vehicle that promises to cover the distance from point A to point B, God and competing traffic willing. We must, ourselves, ensure that the school buses our children board are not crowded beyond capacity. We must see that the keys are not handed over to young, inexperienced drivers who aren’t mature enough to handle the unexpected hazards of the road.

Above all, we must obey traffic rules and reprimand those who don’t. It is imperative that our children feel safe. At home, at school, at work, at play and, most of all, on the road.