Every year on the 21st of November, Aru’s birthday, we strive to launch our new programs with various partners. This year, we are proud to announce that we have launched the ‘Safety Ambassadors’ program with Shishu Mandir.
Shishu Mandir (www.shishumandir.org) and my family go back 12 years when we shifted to our house in Ulsoor. Looking out of our balcony, we would see tiny tots running around on the lanes behind our house, merrily playing with young European Students. Curiosity aroused, Aru and I made inquiries to find out that it was a home for sick and poor children from not so fortunate families. There were orphans being cared for too. We learnt that Shishu Mandir was founded by Ms Hella Mundra, a German, married to Dr D. D Mundra who ran Ashok Nursing Home. Shishu Mandir now operates from its beautiful facilities at Virgonagar.

My awareness talk on Safer Roads, Safer India- Our dream for the Future on the 21st was attended by students from Standards 5 to 10. As always, we seek to make improvements in our sessions. This time, we introduced several pictures which had both safe and risky behaviours. The session was interactive and hence the children learnt a lot more. They were curious and sharp. I was impressed and amazed by their knowledge and awareness about Road Safety.
The children have experienced personal losses and there were at least seven children in the audience who had lost near and dear ones in road accidents.

As it was Aru’s birthday, the session which is always a challenge, proved to be even more difficult. But I It was even more important to me to reach people that day because, she could not celebrate her birthday only because of the accident.

The lunch was sponsored by the Foundation and it gave me solace to see that all the children in the school could eat lunch to celebrate Aru’s birthday.

The next day, the teachers followed up and asked the children to jot down what they had learnt – very briefly. It was extremely heartening to see the teachers and children respond in this manner. I will be sharing the narrative of one of the students who lost two brothers in accidents.

Kudos to the Founders, Mr Anand and the teachers for doing a fantastic job. Thank you Ms Stella for co-ordination and Principal Ms Rani Tandon for organising the event. Moreover, to the children of Shishu Mandir you are all very inspiring.

At Shishu Mandir , Liberation is indeed Awakening.
Sharing a few pictures of the event !

3 Aug 2018 : We had this session at the Hoodi facility of Tata Elxsi.  ~100 employees attended.

I try to keep updating my material with new inputs, new ideas. This time, I decided to mix narrative stories with data/non-narrative messages. Research  says that the story-based interventions most strongly affect people’s intentions to change their behavior, while non-narrative messages most strongly affect cognitive beliefs and attitudes.

I opened with the story of the Poladpur accident – A group of 32 started off on a picnic, with 2 drivers. Unfortunately, at a place near Poladpur, the bus went off a cliff and fell into a deep gorge! There was one person who miraculously escaped, but 33 people crashed to their unfortunate, untimely death.
“33 .. is that a big number? .. well, we lose over 400 every day in our country! That is like a plane crashing down every day!”

I also linked other information on the Poladpur accident at the relevant places.
One report  has it that the bus skid and slipped over loose stones and wet mud. In the section on speeding, I referred to this. Safe speed is decided by the context, not just the sign board. And for this, the driver has to be attentive. When driving on surfaces such as gravel, wet roads, loose stones, the traction between the tire and the surface is low. “Drive to the conditions”: slow down to keep the vehicle in control.

Another report  has it that the driver turned back for a moment to talk to the passengers.  Passengers can be a distraction! And in most cases, they do not realise it! Yet, the driver has to stay focused on the road. Prepare mentally and physically for the journey. His primary job is to get himself, his passengers, the vehicles safely to the destination without any harm to the other vehicles, people or property.

I also decided to change the term “Defensive Driving”. The term “Defensive” has several synonyms that are apt in our context : alert, watchful, cautious, on guard.  But “defensive” has a passive connotation. And, there is one other element that is important : anticipation. Therefore, I have now decided to call it Proactive Driving : be alert, and anticipate! Could the bus driver have anticipated the kind of distractions possible on the picnic, and better prepared to deal with them?

One person came up to me and asked about how much we are able to influence politicians. I hope that the collective effort of like-minded organizations will be successful – and we will get to see the Motor Vehicles Amendment Bill passed through the Rajya Sabha !

I sincerely thank Sunil Kumar and RS Murthy for giving me this opportunity.

Here are a few more pics from the session.

July 2

A wonderful session on Road Safety and Awareness at Dr K B Hedgewar School.

We were amazed at a recent video we came across – our Prime Minister interacted with some bright students from this school.
CLICK HERE for the video

Children of this school have made a device that will automatically dip the car light beam when it detects another vehicle approaching from the opposite side. We were curious to meet these children and see the possibility of working together on road Safety related issues. It was wonderful to interact with these talented students Sumedh Prabhudesai, Lekhraj Surlakar and Sanad Baligeri.

We also conducted a session on road safety. Around 250 students of classes 9 and 10 joined the session.

The question and answer session was extremely interesting . It is amazing to realize how well informed the students are about a lot of the latest developments.

The Arundhati Foundation would like to thank the students, teachers and management of Dr. Dr K B Hedgewar School, Cujira, Bamboli. Special thanks to Mr Subhash Desai and Principal Vilas Satarkar.
And a heartfelt thank you to Tarush Dhume for providing the much needed support during the session.

Here are a few photographs of the session.

July 5 : 2nd Session at LAM Research

This was in their brand new facility at the Fairway Business Park off the Inner Ring Road.  Over 150 employees attended this session.

I was pleasantly surprised when Vikas Chand mentioned that he had gone through the blog of the Foundation and was aware of our work.

This time, I incorporated two other videos into the talk

1. IIHS rear-seat unbelted passenger
2. Blind spots for buses – a video for 2-wheeler riders

These are very effective videos, and they help a lot in conveying the message.

I had some very interesting conversations after the session.

Ashish loves to go on long drives, but is especially conscious of the fatigue factor. His wife acts as the navigator. If either of them is tired, they stop. He also gave a very useful tip : Google maps marks accident-prone areas and cautions drivers to slow down. A yellow / light blue indicator on the map helps identify these areas.

One person raised a question on ethics : “if someone, or an animal, suddenly comes across the vehicle, should I save my life or of the other person / animal ?”  In that split second, I suppose it is instinct that takes over. Most likely, it will be a survival instinct. But its hard to call it a matter of ethics.

We talk of the Good Samaritan law – It allows people to help the victims of road accidents without any fear of harassment. Karnataka became the first state to introduce the Good Samartian bill in the state assembly. This evoked a positive response. Some people have lost their friends who did not get timely help.

There was a general observation that the process of procuring a driving license is very lax, and that it should be a lot more stringent. The MVA Amendment Bill 2017 has provisions for more transparent licensing, and more stringent penalty for violations, penalty for faulty road construction etc. Unfortunately, it is moving very slowly. It was passed in the Lok Sabha, but hasn’t yet made it to the Rajya Sabha. We hope that this session takes up the bill in earnest.

Another comment from a mother was on Underage driving. She is afraid that her teenage son will come under peer pressure and take the two wheeler on a ride. They keep the keys hidden from him.  In such situations, first of all, it has to be firm message to the child, letting him know that he will get his turn when he becomes an adult. It is important to also reach out to the parents of your child’s friends and caution them if the children are indulging in underage driving. It takes a degree of maturity to deal with problems on the road, and a child cannot be expected to have this maturity.

Ramya informed me the next day that several of the people have come forth and promised to wear helmets. That is very heartening!

Thanks LAM research for a wonderfully interactive session.  I hope to add some pictures from the session soon.

****

20 April 2018

It looks like the word about the work done by The Arundhati Foundation is spreading through various people. I had a pleasant surprise one day in April when Ramya Jyothi from Lam Research reached out to us and requested us to conduct not one but 4 sessions for the organization, in each of its facilities.

I agreed to do the first session on April 20, and based on the feedback, we will conduct the further 3 sessions as well.

One tries to inject some humour into the topic because people can be more receptive to take in the message. I saw this clip of Farokh Engineer – the dashing wicketkeeper/bastman who played for India in the era where protective gear was limited – and decided to use a bit of it. Engineer had joked once “Cricketers started using the abdomen guard in 1868. The helmet came into play only in the 1970s. It took a 100 years for cricketers to recognize that the head is precious!”

I got an interesting perspective from one of the audience members. When discussing speed, he said “30 km/hour translates to about 30 feet/sec” Pointing across the room he said – “this is about the distance to the door there. Imagine having to stop in between the two points – to go from 30 km/hr to 0 in less than 1 second. Now you can understand how hard it is to stop when at higher speeds”.

Thank you Ramya for organizing the event, and Lam Research for giving us the opportunity. I will certainly cover the other sites as well.

16 March 2018

I visited Ramyam at their new office in the Crescent-4 tower at Prestige Shantiniketan. A group of 70 employees attended the session.

Based on the experience from the past sessions, I made some changes. After covering the important topics related to Defensive Driving, I picked a few of the commonly asked questions, and incorporated them into the presentation.

The section is titled “What about …”, and discusses a few topics:
“listening to music when driving”
“giving way to a pedestrian”
“giving way to an ambulance”
“using high beam at night”
“when using a taxi / auto”
“when riding pillion”

I found the audience to be very interactive when these points were discussed.
Maybe I will change the first part of my presentation based on this as well.

Thanks to my old colleague and friend Manoj KC for inviting me over to Ramyam.
And, thanks to Luman Francis who helped organize the event.
Here are some pics from the event.

Feb 16, 2018

We conducted a session on road safety awareness at Hewlett Packard’s campus in Bengaluru.
About 100 people attended the session.

There were some very interesting discussions during the Q&A:

* “Most people do not follow the rules”
My answer to this is always that the process starts from self, from within.
And, if you find others violating the rules, do not get into a confrontation.
There are ways to convey the message without picking a fight.

* “Tyre bursts are cause for accidents as well”
yes. and therefore preventive maintenance is important.
Defensive driving, in fact, covers many areas starting from the prepartion, to night driving, bad weather conditions, pillion, etc.
We touched only a few topics to address the issues that are most prevalent in the city.

* “Why don’t you do this for Ola and Uber drivers?”
I will be happy to! I need to get the opening.
I would also like to do this with the delivery boys of Amazon, Flipkart, Swiggy,…
I have some friends who can probably convey the message more effectively in Kannada.
But, every time I get into a taxi, I make it a point to tell the driver what is acceptable and what is not.
Particularly wrt cellphones, safe speed, jumping signals.
I also see that many taxis do not have seatbelts in the rear seats. And I make it a point to give this feedback.

* “Is listening to music considered to be a distraction?”
Listening to music on low volume is OK as long as it does not interfere with sounds from the road.
Listening with earbuds is a no-no since it cuts off the sounds from the road.
Reaching out to change music should be done when in a parked position.

* “A car / motorcycle can easily go under the rear of a truck if one is not careful”.
Couldn’t agree more … it can be very dangerous if sufficient space is not maintained.

* “When you see a ball rolling down the street, you can expect a child to come running after it”
That is exactly what defensive driving is about. Be aware of your environment. Be alert to anticipate!

* “How can I join your organization”
Do look up our site www.thearundhatifoundation.org.in
And get in touch with us with your ideas.
We can certainly take your help to further the message.

My sincere thanks to Kedar Vaze and HP for organizing the event.

Here are copies of the signed pledge.

3 Feb 2018

Today, we took the students of NPS, Indiranagar, for a field visit to the Traffic Management Centre, Bengaluru.
These are students of QuizShala – a program conducted by Walnut Knowledge Solutions.
Today’s program was a joint collaboration with Anusha Jaishankar’s Positive Strokes.

Shubhangi and Anusha had a interactive discussion with the students on road safety – they discussed the statistics, the challenges, and the need to acknowledge good behaviour on the road.  By giving them a positive stroke, we reinforce the good behaviour.

A few students shared their experiences – drivers overcome by fatigue, drunk driving, rash driving.  Then they turned on the systems to monitor the junctions. It was a “WOW” moment for the kids! They had not imagined such technology being used by the Bengaluru Traffic Police.

They went about looking for good behaviour : riders wearing helmets, good lane discipline, wearing seatbelts, stopping before zebra crossing, using signals when turning. While doing so, the bad behaviour on the road was very visible to them:
“Dude! look at that – he did not stop at the red light!”,
“That auto came all the way around the one behind and is now horizontal on the zebra crossing. He is blocking the others now!”
“These boys are not wearing helmets, and that one is wearing it on his hand”

They had suggestions for improving roadsafety : curbing overspeeding, educating people on use of helmets and safety belts. Some said that the simplest rule that could be followed was “Stop on Red”
All were in favour of imposing strict fines for the bad behaviour on the road.

At the end of the session, Sub-Inspector A.Khan and his team gave away certificates of participation to the students.

Thank you Bengaluru City Traffic Police, Positive Strokes and Walnut Knowledge Solutions – this collaboration makes a big difference.

Here are some pics from the event

Attached are a few more pics from the event on 18 Nov.

18 Nov 2017, Safety Quest 2017

We organized the first –ever Safety Quest on the eve of World Day of Remembrance 2017, to honour the victims and survivors of road accidents.

Yesterday’s event was the culmination of several months of groundwork. We had reached out to as many schools as we could, and also to our friends and colleagues. We were a little jittery about the turnout since the initial response was lukewarm. However, in the past 2 weeks, we saw the momentum pick up nicely. At the final count, we had 54 teams participating from 25 schools. Three teams from the Sri Manjunatha Vidya Samsthe came all the way from Malur. They took 3 hours to get to the venue!

We had over 170 people in the audience! We are truly amazed and humbled by the response.

Shubhangi kicked off the proceedings with the Welcome note. It is always difficult to share why we started The Arundhati Foundation. But we do want to give a face to the name, and let everyone know that the issue of safety is so real. Shubhangi also introduced our Guests of Honour – Mr. Venkitachalam ( Venki ) the ex-VP of Public Safety Mission at UL India, and Mr. Uday Vijayan who started Beyond Carlton in the memory of his son Akhil, a victim of the fire at Carlton Towers in 2010. They have been our mentors, our guides, and their presence at the function was a morale booster for us.

The preliminary round had 20 interesting questions – ranging from the local Bangalore Metro guides for the visually impaired and Badal Nanjudaswamy’s work to draw attention to potholes to the difficulty faced by Volvo in implementing software to recognize animals ( which is failing in Australia because of it is hard to track the sudden movements of Kangaroos ), to the challenges of transporting pistachios ( they can self combust ! ), to the no-selfie zones imposed by Mumbai police, and so on. The questions were in both English and Kannada so that we could reach a wider audience.

While we waited for the decision on the finalists, Venki engaged the students. “There is a science behind safety” he said as he got the students to think of the triangle of fire, and why acids are stored in bottles. “Safety is for life” he said. While the students favourite equations ( Einstein’s equation, Coloumb’s law, etc ) are important and interesting, not many would use these through their life. But the principles of safety, and safe behavior is required all the time. He also urged the students to teach others, and to take their share of responsibility in ensuring safety.

Six teams qualified for the finals. One team from NPS Koramangala with  Abhiram Nitin and Ashray missed the qualification by a whisker. The Quiz masters decided to grant them a consolation prize.

The finals were played over 5 rounds. Again a bunch of interesting questions related to : Madam Curie’s notebook, the life-saving drones developed in Iran, the giant fire extinguisher developed in Hungary, the development of the oxygen mask, the impactful ad by Volkswagen to draw attention perils of texting when driving, the proposed national emergency phone number for India.

Quiz master Raghav kept everyone engaged by including several audience-questions.

The top 3 prize winners got Amazon kindles and cash prizes. The 4^th, 5^th and 6^th place winners got Gift Coupons.

We are extremely thankful to all the parents and teachers who encouraged the students. Without their support, this would not have been possible. And thanks to the students themselves – their enthusiasm and engagement was outstanding. They are the real reason why we feel this event was a success.

Thanks to UL India and Beyond Carlton for giving us the support that allowed us to stage the event on this scale. A heartfelt thanks to all the volunteers who worked shoulder to shoulder to make it a success. And a loud shout out to the team at Walnut Knowledge Solutions for the quality of their content, and for making it such an engaging session.

We chose the name “Safety Quest”. It symbolizes a search for safety, in pursuit of safety, a journey towards safety. We hope that we have been able to instill some values of safety in the students, to implant a seed. Going forward, everyday experiences will either weaken or strengthen these values. Our hope is that the values remain intact. Indeed, we urge the audience to demonstrate leadership in this regard. Whether at school, or at work, or at home, or in public places, you can continue to demonstrate a positive attitude towards safety. You can continue to demonstrate safe behavior.

Stay Safe!

Here are a few more pics :