Uma at IndianWriting has a thought-provoking post Many Indias on the recent tragedy involving two Manipuri women at the Gateway. What were press photographers doing there, clicking pictures. and not attempting to help. And all the onlookers. There is an interesting discussion on at her blog about why people do not want to get involved.
My own thought about the bystander effect is what studies have proved earlier – that the more the number of people present at the scene, the less likely or willling will an individual be to get involved. the bystander effect (also known as bystander apathy) is a psychological phenomenon where persons are less likely to intervene in an emergency situation when others are present than when they are alone.
Apart from of course this situation that Truman talks about there – Our laws and the police have installed a fear within us for helping people in need. The people around did not care to save the girl because maybe they feared that what will follow after this will be a string of court and police station visits.
My own experience with the “law” happened three days ago – we were driving along Palm beach Road in Vashi on Sunday (14th) night at around 10.30 p.m. when we saw a dead buffalo on the road. Probably an accident. And we thought, we want to report this to someone and get it cleared off the streets, but who?
Thinking of the epidemic scare and the fact that the next day was a public holiday (Independence day), I called 100 from my husband’s cell phone. the phone was picked up on the second ring.
Hullo! I am calling from Vashi. Palm Beach Road. There is a dead buffalo here on the road and we want to get it cleared… blah blah (all in Hindi)
Madam, you have to speak to the Vashi police station.
Can you give me the number please?
Time spent on call – less than a minute
****
Vashi police station – phone picked up on seventh ring.
Same routine – from my side.
Ji, mein Vashi se blah blah… yahan sadak par ek bhains mara pada hai blah blah… (there is a dead buffalo on the road…)
Ehh, kaun mar gaya? (eh, who is dead?)
I gripped the phone hard and thought – I hope I never ever have to report a dead person – ever – to the police.
Kaun nahi – ek bhains (not who – a buffalo)
Ehhh, to hum kya kar saktey hain? (so what can we do?)
Please get it cleared…
Aap kaun baat kar rahe hain?
… Please get it cleared….
Pehle bataiye aapka naam kya hai…
(first thought – hullo, I haven’t murdered the buffalo, why is my name important?
immediate follow-up thought – oh my god, I am calling from a mobile number… is he going to harrass me?)
Suniye madam, aisa nahi chalega, aapko proper complaint likhna padega. Aise phone par hum kuch nahi kar saktey (you have to give a ‘proper’ complaint – we cannot do anything on the phone)
Aap police hain. Aapko kuch karna padega (in best shaky threatening voice – you have to do something)
(Consultations in the background)
Aap BMC (or was it NMMC) ko report kijiye
Number denge please?
Time spent on call : 5.49 minutes
****
Municipal Corporation : phone rings. And rings. And rings.
Imaginary answer in my head – hullo, yeh Sunday raat hai. Hum kyon office be baithey rahenge? Aur kal? Kal to chutti hai. Swatantrata diwas hai na. Parson dekh lenge. Bhains to mar gaya na.
(Why do you think we will be here at work on a Sunday night. Or tomorrow – on a public holiday. The buffalo is dead – it can wait for a day more).
The next time, we will drive straight on. Buffalo, RIP…
Ive come to the conclusion that in most countries in this world, if theres a problem, you should avoid = if possible = ever involving the police.
It all sounds part of the great existential debate: Why are we here? Since everything is over at death, should we even bother about anyone else other than our self? Or should we help fellow travellers in getting through with the time between life and death?
To be fair, I don’t think clearing buffaloes is the Police’s job anyway. Yes, it would be nice if they were a bit more responsible, I really don’t think it’s right to ask a police officer to pcik dead animals of the streets. People, yes. Honestly it seems to me that the Vashi police station dude was thinking you were pulling his (her?) leg. Because based on your dialogue, they were expecting a homicide, and you said er.. dead bull on road. Clean road please. Now the fact that the BMC didn;t even answer is another issue. But seriously, I thought dialling 100 was for emergencies. I wouldn’t call a dead cow on the street an emergency. I understand you weren’t sure who to complain to, but er.. it seems that the Muncipal authority would be the obivous first choice, not the police, in this matter. Not to weaken your point – instances of Police callousness are well-documented of course, but in this specific case, I think it would be unfair accuse them of ineptitude or callousness.
Mark, I somehow thought this was unique to India (and maybe a few other countries) – suprises me to know that dealing with the police can be cumbersome anywhere in the world…
Shivaji, I didn’t start this off as an existential debate but yes, the question is on my mind – at what cost help to a person in need – surely not in this case, it was too silly but more to do with the stabbing incident at gateway…
TTG, ah! as usual TTG has a point to score. I do wish you would read the entire post before shooting off. Each time. READ THIS CAREFULLY – “And we thought, we want to report this to someone and get it cleared off the streets, but who?” In India, there is no service for the non-emergency but important civic issues…
Do try calling the Municipal authorities on a sunday evening or on a public holiday – the BMC workers took off two days after the recent cloudburst in Bombay because the government declared a holiday in the city.
And if it is not the duty of the police, then the guy at 100 should have given me the numbers of the Municial Corporatoin instead of the Vashi police station number – to me, this reeked of ‘getting it off my hands as quickly as possible’…
It is not about the fact that the cop thought some person was dead – but the tone – eh, kaun mar gaya? I if were indeed reporting a homicide or death, I would felt nonplussed at that tone…
(Incidentally, a dead cow on the street might just be an emrgency in case of an epidemic)
charu, i know how it feels to do this: aaarrrrgh. thanks for trying.
Hi Charu,
Saket wrote a piece on this same issue once. A girl was obviously being held against her will on a train, Saket tried to stand up for her, but no one even cared to support him.
Vikram
I once saw a schoolgirl getting knocked down by a train near Chembur… she was not more than 8 or 9 years old and with someone who looked like a maid. The train stopped. She was put into it, then offloaded at Kurla, to be put into another train and eventually reach Sion or Nair hospital.
She was bleeding… apparently.. I could not get myself to look… I thought abt who her parents might be… thought of going with her… but it looked like a pretty hopeless case. I don’t think she must have survived.
I looked in the papers the next day – there was no mention. Nothing out of the ordinary, is it? I think about this unknown child every now and then. I wish I had stepped forward and gone with her to the hospital. Even if I could not do anything to get her there faster, even if it meant explaining to the police ‘who am’ (koi nahin, just a concerned citizen).
I don’t know why I was too paralysed to act. I still wonder…
Yes, TTG, trying to score a point. Now I shall skulk away in silence….BANG! “OUCH!” *trips over dead buffalo on his way out* :-p
Uma, I never knew “how it feels” before this! Now I know… why the instinct is to move on and not care…
Vikram,I used to think – and still think that one should get involved – when another human being is in trouble – but I think about what I would do in such a situation – get involved at danger or risk to myself – risk being even getting caught in endless police rounds adnd questions? don’t know… in this case it was just a dead buffalo but the cop started off on my name and details…
Rashmi, the explaining to the plice, who are you? what were you doing there? (are you invovled in the accident / death in some way) – these are what keep people away, I guess.
Ok, so my cop was expecting me to report a dead person not a dead animal, but the apathy – his whole tone and manner – was scary…
TTG, either you can trip over the dad buffalo on your way out or you can on a sunday night at 10.30 p.m. trace the nunbers of the new Bombay municipal corporation 🙂
On a more serious note, I DID read your post all the way through
and yes, you don’t know whom to call about this, so you picked the police. The fact is, you still dialled the EMERGENCY number. Yes dead buffalos in the time of monsoon are very hazardous, but you’ve just belittled the cause of thousands of people who are urgently fleeing rapists, murders and other various evils.
Do you honestly believe that
“HALP! There’s a rapist on my tail!”
and
“HALP! There’s-a-dead-potentially-disease-causing-animal-corpse-on-the-street-get-rid-of-it”
should be handled by the same telephone number and same bunch of people? Honestly.
look at it this way. It’s late at night, you’re in a big city of 14 million with numerous rapes, murders, e.t.c., sitting at the emergency dispatcher’s seat, when somebody calls and says “There’s a dead ________ on the street”.
Now you’re thinking “Umm… didn’t sound like there’s been a murder, by the person’s voice, and there didn’t seem to be the panic-stricken urgency either”….so you ask, in a more curious tone – rather than in a concerned, efficient tone: “Ummm… kaun mar gaya?.
The voice says Buffalo. You’re the emergency dispatcher, you don’t have time for this, you forward it on to the nearest police station. I’m just saying what the 100 operator did seemed to be totally in line and within time. That, in itself, is pleasantly surprising – not to mention the fact that they did redirect you to the nearest police station. Asking any more of the emergency operator seems ridiculous to me frankly.
Now the local police station’s response leaves a lot to be desired but they still told who is responsible for this.
Yes, this is your blog, and here’s a contrary opinion. I shall go away now.
It’s the Municipal corporation’s responsibility to do this. Mostly there are animal shelters which do this even though it doesnt really lie under their purview (clearing a dead animal). There are also helpines, and phone no’s to call if you come across a dead animal on the street (at least they are there in Delhi)..search the net/yellow pages and you would find something..coz believe it or not, there are some people who bother about this..
Actually….i’m pretty sure there are places to call for problems like this…..but, I can’t remember who they are! (your point taken).
We do need a few dedicated lines for city civic problems (trains, buses, drains, roads, electricity lines etc), and a person should not need to have to call 100 different numbers to reach them. Every one should know what this number is (like 100 in India or 911 in the states).
But still….I don’t think us ignoring problems is good in any way. We need to continue to do what we can…..
Sunil, thanks. that was my point – this post was not about the callousness of the police – but about how sometimes we want to help but
1. don’t know how to…
2. are worried about the ‘consequences’ of getting involved…
In this case I did not call 100 because it was a smart thing to do – but because I could not think of what else to do… we could have driven on but the thought that the next day was a public holiday made us imagine the buffalo lying there till the day after!
people are scared of police…life style doesnot let anyone to help…everyone is running
uma
I saw the pictures in Star News(I guess).
How appropriate is it to show the picture with a lot of blood in TV-News ?
I could not get my mind out of those images for a couple of days.
TV puts experiences in our mind compressed and winzipped.
Its better that News Channels get a bit sensitive. But, they all seem to be
in a competition when you see those crazy crime serials like Sansani etc.
The other issue is related to the dead Buffalo.
Its not just Indian police or BMC which are disorganised.
Being organised and maintaining cleanliness are not certainly Indian Virtues.
So, every Indian has to improve in these domains, then only the systems will improve.
By default, Indian mind today is extremely confused and disorganised.
That gets reflected in the surroundings all around us.
Charu
Let dead buffalos lie!!! Whatever that means.
But yes the response fro the police and the no response from BMC was pathetic. Maybe you should have taken a picture of the dead buffalo and sent it with a writeup of your attempts to someone like Mid-day. Maybe it would have embarassed some corporator or BMC bigwig to at least give some bullshit response.
Sourin
Charu – A song for BMC (courtsey 1942: A Love Story)
Kuch na Karo, Kuch na Karo
Kya karna hai, kya sunna hai
Samay ka yeh Pal, Tham sa gaya hai
Aur is pal mein, koi nahin hai
Sab saale chutti maana rahe hai
Kuch na Karo, Kuch na karo
(Taking a Bow)
Sourin
Hi Charu, here is a news article on bystander apathy. Apparently the dead buffalo is not alone. Check this out http://www.telegraphindia.com/1050819/asp/calcutta/story_5129084.asp
Uma, yes, people are scared, maybe not of the police but of getting invovled in endless rounds of questioning and so on…
Sourin, am sure the municipal authorities don’t need your or my encouragement singing ‘kuch na karo’ to them – waise bhi kuch khaas nahi kartey hain 🙂
Sumanth, sadly sensation sells – on TV and in newspapers…
Aparna, this is a very sad story – watching someone die – or trying to kill themselves… but the fear of getting involved with the police is very real…
Is there no traffic division of the city police in India ? I believe you called the cops to avoid any further accident ; In France this task is done by the gendarmes or the firemen who do more than just fighting fire.
In India , accountability is so diluted that we would be passive bystanders for a long time
Pardeshi
Pardeshi, there is a traffic division but I dont think they would have accepted this as being part of their job – you are right – diluted or absent accountability – that is at the bottom of this passing on phone numbers business…
Hi Charu
Interesting story.
I would not know whom to call if I encountered a dead animal on the road. At least you tried to solve the problem. Too bad you weren’t able to find anyone who could help.
Michael, back from holiday? 🙂
I tried but didn’t manage to solve anything… felt quite frustrate at the end of it…
Charu, in response to this: the explaining to the plice, who are you? what were you doing there?, I’d like to offer this. Just to make the point that encounters with the police are not necessarily painful and don’t have to be a deterrent to doing something.