5th May 2011
If one cannot command attention by one's admirable qualities one can at least
be a nuisance.
Margery Allingham
The time now is 3 am I started to type today's newsletter. My house is situated on the main highway. My attention is drawn by an ambulance going on the road with a loud siren. It was so load that I opened the door to look out what's happening. By the time I opened the door, the ambulance had gone. I stepped into the road. I noticed that the road was empty and there was no one on the road. There was not even a cycle on the road.
I was thinking: why did the ambulance driver use the siren when there is no traffic at all on the road! If at all there is a purpose for the alarm in an ambulance, it is to alert the traffic that there is a life in danger and seeking their cooperation and help to give way for the ambulance. The act of the ambulance driver is a nuisance not only to the people who may be sleeping, but also to the patient who is being taken in the ambulance. For the attendants in the ambulance, it might create an anxiety and mental disturbance. Was the ambulance driver using the siren just because it was available to him?
This incident made me to ponder over the following issues of human behaviour:
- Do we use our mobile cell phone just because it is there even though there is no need to use the same?
- Do we spend money buying things, just because we have money at our disposal even though we can manage without the thing being purchased?
- Do we misuse our power and authority just because we have the same?
- Do we eat junk food just because it is offered to us or available to us?
- Do we offer unsolicited help to others just because there are people who cannot say `no' to our advice?
- Do we seek the help of people just because they are available, even though we can do our work by ourselves?
May be you can also audit your behavioural patterns to check is there is gap between what you need to do and what you are actually doing1
N C Sridharan
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