Dear Van Anna,
I want to grow big. When I grow big like Daddy, I want to try and catch the moon. I will jump up and say hello to the flying bird. I will try to pluck mangoes and tamarind without throwing stones at them. I will hold the top-bar when standing inside the bus. I will ride a bike, climb mountains.
When I grow big and go in a car of my own, and you are old, I will take you in my car. I will also buy a van and drive fast like you. I will not ask your help to climb in and out of the bus.
I will even walk before your van/bus and will be seen from your seat..Until then, please be a little careful when you drop me off and start your vehicle. I am only 2 feet tall and will not be seen until you peep...
Please allow me to grow tall...grow big, soar...
Yours Little,
Tiny toddler
Kids are not shrubs in the sidewalk to be carelessly run over! [news]
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17 comments:
Enna aachu?
ya? wht happened?
ferrari & kaushik,
Sorry about not conveying the news. Something that disturbed me in the morning newspaper. Have included the link in the post now.
1) Van drivers have to be educated on the nuances of picking and dropping kids ... They cannot assume that their passenger is a sophisticated road user .... But, who are these drivers .... What is their qualification .... How much do they earn .... Do they undergo any formal training .... Who checks their credentials and earlier references ....
Will the parents be prepared to shell out Rs. 200/- more (per month), if the van operators have to raise their standards ???
2) Schools and parents have to educate the kids about safety in alighting and boarding vans (irrespective of whether the kids use them). In this particular case, it seems to have been the ignorance of the kid which caused the unfortunate incident.
3) In the US, if a school van / bus is parked on the side for picking up / dropping kids, no other vehicle is allowed to overtake the van / bus. Others HAVE to wait.
Is it possible to implement the same here ?
very true Naveenan!
But, more than qualification and standards, I thought it was common sense and human instinct to be protective about kids...
and agree with you about US school buses! what royal treatment the kids get there!
yadhvi..
very very disturbing...
i remember a similar thing happening inside a school premises in kolkata in 2000....a girl in lkg was standing and her school bus which was backing up, hit her.....
my own school bus driver was one of the rashest, but back then we were young and urged him to drive faster on those kolkata roads where there is nothing like traffic rules....
as naveenan said, awarness has to be increased about such issues with the drivers, and rules and regulations have to be imposed about school buses and their drivers
Naveena's point three is what struck me.The moment people see this yellow coloured vehicle in US dropping students they stop their vehicles.Probably government here has to enforce it.Drivers might follow it if it is a strict punishable rule.
I differ with his second point though. Ignorance of the kid - may be or may be not.Probably the kid wasn't educated that its not safe to get down the van and walk in front of it.But its high time these drivers start respecting kids. Kids should be educated about safety I agree.But that again should not result in inculcating fear in their minds about roads.
hey, this kid who was run over was the classmate of my boss' daughter at Rosary Matric School. my boss' kid is in a state of shock even now as she was talking to jaishree till she got into the van....i dont know if this incident will sensitise those driving rashly...
Probably, we can start giving the respect that road users in US give to those yellow school buses.
Let us vow never to overtake / pass a school bus which is stopping by the side of the road to pick up / drop children, if it is a single lane road, unmindful of the honks / glares that fellow road users give us.
7 (count of bloggers here) is a good number to start with. Such deeds are more often contagious.
These mini vans are a menace. And not to forget the overloaded Omnis and autos which ferry kids to school packed like a can of sardines.
in some of the school vans around my locality, a school maid accompanies the kids and she ensures that these kids reach their houses safely before starting the van again.
this can be a better solution in a country like ours where neither the van driver nor the road users are educated as the US
mukund,
I can imagine the shock her friends will be in.. All our prayers to the bereaved family and friends..
balaji,
that sounds like a good solution.. and hopefully the maid shouldn't get careless and take things for granted.
vincent,
mini vans :-O hope some regulation, standards and licencing are enforced to control them..
srivat,
agree with you..kid is a kid. We can teach them things, but can't expect them to know and behave as we wish. They are not robots..
Sorry yadhvi,
I opened ur blog expecting some funny post but i m much emotionally driven after redaing the entire thing..... ithukku mela ethuvum ezhutha thonalai
shastry,
yeah..this news disturbed me a lot too... and the use of word 'had not expected' pissed me off soo much!
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