12 Angry Men

This is not a review (though would love to) on the Henry Fonda starrer "12 Angry Men" which came in the late 50s and which is being studied, interpreted and argued till date across management institutes and organizations. This is altogether a different story, wherein a group of people got their hands together just against a single reason. The reason is touched on course of this pulambal.

It was yet another uneventful travel to the office in the morning hours, when the very feeling came to a sudden halt on account to a senseless two wheeler who just shifted moods and of course with the slightest of indication changed directions. Imagine, in the busy Velachery road, just in front a school, a two-wheeler, with no indication taking a U-turn.

No better than a collision, resulting even in casualities might have happened, but for my bus driver's quick thinking and evasive action, that refrained from any such collision or injury. But of course the bike's tyre was hit slightly by the bus, resulting in the person to loose balance and he fell down.

On account to courtesy, our bus driver brought our bus to a halt to check if the bike wallah is fine. That's it. Another passerby brought his bike and parked it infront of our bus and started abusing our bus driver. In less than 2 minutes or so, another half a dozen have invited themselves to the party, surrounded the bus and started using all possible filthy languages, asking the driver to get down. For sure, had the driver got down at that point of time, he would have been beated up brutally for no fault of him.

All those who have surrounded the bus were "passers by" and were never the "witnesses" of what had happened. I have witnessed what has exactly happened and there was absolutely no fault with the bus driver. In fact, he should have been credited for the very fact that he managed to avoid a collision, unearthed by the two-wheeler wallah.

The driver denied getting down and locked all the doors for those miscreants to enter in. The abuse now started against all the incumbents of the bus, the reason being we were a part of the IT industry.

A few conversations and happenings in course of this stray incident.
* The group unanimously found fault with the driver and were continuously saying this "IT company na enna komba mulachirku??"
* Soon the police came to the scene, much to the relief of us.
* But no sooner than later, the cops asked the driver to get down, in their own terms and language.
* A senior official came in an Accent and asked the bus driver to kneel down in front of the entire crowd.
* Again that official used the same phrase "IT company na ena peria komba mulachirukku?" He added up, saying "I want to teach a lesson to you guys this time."
* Finally we had to catch another bus and had to go late to office that day. Was given to understand that the bus driver was reprimanded that day and eventually was chucked out from service for no fault of him.

This might be one of the incidents which clearly depicts the hatred the general public has towards the IT companies. This repugnance might be attributed to various reasons, but one major reason that I could relate to their aversion towards the industry is because they perceive that only because of the IT guys, the rates in the real estates, rents and properties have sky rocketed and the Chennai living standard has changed.

But are only IT guys responsible for this? Today the living and the earning standard of any given individual on comparison with the IT professionals might be at par is what is my stand on this. But the myth is that only the IT companies play the spoilsport and hence the aversion shifts towards the entire lot of IT professionals. Being in the industry doesn't call for this generalisation, aversion or stereotyping. Wish the general public understands this at the earliest. A snap taken while the mob surrounded us and tried entering into our bus. "Antha kalavarathilayum oru kizhukizhuppu" :-)