September 15, 2015

Safety education for parents and biking culture in india

BBS reported the sad demise of two Bhutanese students studying in Punjab lately. The root cause of the misfortune was bike accident.

Bhutanese falling victim to such disaster is not a new trend in India. A lot many has succumbed to similar ill fate in earlier times.

That said, my humble commiseration extends to the bereaved families of the two. And I pray for the departed souls to rest in peace.

I am authoring this article neither to aggravate nor to foul mouth over the sorry state but to divulge the inside-out of Bhutanese life which proceeds on in our neighboring country while out on studies. Because I am an Indian graduate myself, I have sufficient details of experiences that can translate into a wakeup call for aspiring parents looking for enrolment in India to keep clear of the unpleasant news happening to their own children in future.

Believe me, I had my fair share for three odd years in Bangalore while I was pursuing my undergraduate course. I have had my parents soaked up in tight positions, sometimes making a phone call at non-human hours and weeping out of frustrations. On several occasions, it was the money that I preyed upon to get myself a secondhand bike.

But as if a wonderful stroke of luck had hands in it, my hope of getting one was never materialized.

Reminiscently, I have a vivid cogitations of how I once mounted my friends’ bike under alcohol influence and almost chanced upon near death. Today, when I chew over those musings, I feel my parents just showed up to my rescue which, otherwise, I could have come home parceled.

Unfortunately, not few were as lucky as me. During my three years stay there, more than four lives were claimed in bike mishaps.

My writing here would not do the justice of expressing the concerns of parents whose children’s are studying abroad. The only thing to make sense of this is to hear from one’s own parents or get into their shoes.

Now, away from home, whose parents will consent the idea of their children owning a bike in foreign soil and coming back home lifeless when a huge sum was loaned intentionally to finance their education. Who will have the lion’s heart to hear of all the heart tearing roars ebbing away from a place where you have once sent with hopes and aspirations?

No one, Perhaps. Everyone would anticipate profusely for safe arrival and success stories to be shared.

But, it happens at the expense of some parents not being cautious enough in money matters. At such miles distance, money is required to do bills, pay rents and hoard some for unknown emergencies. If anything more than usual is claimed in the name of laptop, study tour and other miscellaneous things, parents should not blindly satiate their financial thirst simply because they are far-off and in dire need of it. In addition, parents should not be easily taken to a humble appeal consisting of numerous concerns, for these are the clandestine devise to extract money and own a bike.

Therefore, dear parents, prior to recklessly depositing a huge sum please plunge into the matter thoroughly, enquire friends or even lecturers and do the necessary remittance.

Money, if not invested thoughtfully, can dig our own graves.