The Culture of Taken for Granted

It was 3:30 am last night, when I woke up to a deafening noise. In the middle of maximum silence and deep sleep, it was a thunderous sound that every one at home got awakened. When this did not stop, after a few minutes I got up and went out into the balcony to find out the reason for this tonality at this hour.

To my surprise, I saw some workers unloading the construction material (iron rods, pipes and bars) in a building, under renovation, on the opposite side of the road. They were just throwing it from the truck to the ground without any forklift, or using cloth / foam to mitigate the noise. This activity continued for at least one hour, making ear-shattering clatter, and we couldn't sleep at all, after that. I some how stopped myself from dialling a PCR or 112.

Let me also elaborate a bit more about the scene of incident. This is a school building with a common boundary wall with a super speciality 350+ bedded hospital. The building is surrounded by at least 50 housing societies, if not more, where sound can travel without any barrier. This comprises of few thousand households and numerous individuals. There could be elders, kids, students with their final years exams going on, unwell people or few who just deserve a sound sleep.

I was so perturbed that I called up the school first thing in the morning, as soon as I saw some activity in the premises. I was told neither the admin head nor the Principal had come till then. I left my number requesting the lady on the other side to arrange a call back.

Now, in about an hour's time a mature sounding gentleman called back. He extended obligatory apologies and assured me that this will not happen again and I should not be bothered about it. But what he also said before this, took me to utter state of shock. He said "This happens everywhere, everyday, & we haven't done any thing different. We don't do it every day and it is once in a while activity."

Is this becoming a culture in our country to take things for granted, to suit your own convenience? From traffic discipline out there, especially on crossing & signals, to car parking's - where one sees his / her own convenience and not bothered about anyone else. From renovating (which again makes a lot of noise) your house / building to playing music during marriages, functions, processions - just what suits you and the let others go to hell. The aggression on the road resulting in so many road-rage cases to murders & crime against women taking a newer high.

What kind of culture are we giving to the next generation. Do empathy, kindness, brotherhood are slowly becoming a thing of the past.

Well, it's high time to give it a thought !