The men in white

In the scorching heat of the day with cars spewing tons of black smoke there are men who stand amidst the hustle to maintain the flow of traffic. The traffic policemen in their white uniforms look like navy soldiers trying to fight the waves of heavy traffic. There is not much in their arsenal to defend themselves. A cap to stay cool minded in the heat, a whistle to lead the bizarre traffic into order and usually a mask to route filtered air into their lungs.

Keeping aside the bribery problems and their ineligibility to enforce proper traffic laws, these great men are upright to the task of keeping the drivers from causing havoc on the busy roads of Karachi – irrespective of the pollution that they are prone to.

I have come across a few traffic wardens, not because of violation of any traffic rule but to facilitate them in their commute from one place to another or to their homes, during my rides to different places on my bike. While having a chat with them I realised that they barely make their ends meet and one of them did open my eyes with his mind-boggling confessions about the traffic conditions in our metropolis. He reiterated the fact that they are forced to accept bribes as they have to pay a specified amount to the higher officials each day while answering my question to the ethical aspect of their act of requesting a bribe.

One of them, an old man with a white beard and ‘safaid topi’ (a praying cap) instead of the usual head cover, cursed the corrupt system and maintained that he has never asked for a bribe in his long career but had to face the consequences. He added that traffic laws can only be imposed properly when the roads are ridden of illegal parking. The car-lifting cell does its part but no proper parking areas cause traffic jams in major commercial areas.

One last point that he made was a very short and valid possibility to end traffic problems. His words were ‘sabar aur Khuda ka khouf yeh sab masle khatam kar sakta hai’ (Patience and the fear of God are the only viable solutions to traffic problems).

All in all, one must be thankful to these men in white for putting their health on the line in order to help us drive safely and reach our destinations.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 2^nd, 2014.