The Choice of Answerability

“The price of greatness is responsibility.” ― Winston Churchill

The stream of water emerged out in a jet and surged ten feet above us. It was breathtaking to watch it in the backdrop of  a spherical red glowing  sun rising in the blue canopy interspersed with clouds. The underbridge that connects Pradhikaran and Ravet has open space on both the sides of the road. A water pipe had burst on the  side that leads to Pradhikaran. It was early in the morning, and there was an early morning walker who was admiring the panorama. Looking at the jet of water we stopped for a while, and decided to go to the office of the municipal water authority in PCMC to report the gushing eruption of water. The office is a little away from the place we live. On reaching the office, we found the road leading the office was sandy with pebbles strewn all over the path leading towards  the entrance of the building, but the gates were thrown open. We saw a security seated on a chair with his eyes half closed, his forehead covered with a handkerchief, in the form of a cap. A few more people were loitering inside, when we gestured the security to come out as we were finding it difficult to move in with me as  a pillion rider. The security, a relaxed person, gestured back. While we were getting ready to enter, there appeared  a person on his bike. He seemed a little more involved in the job. We quickly narrated about the jet of water. The man looked at us pensively and asked us the exact location. He did not ask us about the intensity of the leak but questioned us about the exact location of the leak repeatedly.We described the spot, but it looked as if he was interested only in knowing the location. Finally, his eyes sparkled as he said that the other side, where the water pipe was conked out, was not under their jurisdiction. By now my husband got annoyed and said that they could call the authorities and report the leak’ as  water was getting wasted and that it was the sense of duty to look into these matters irrespective of the location.The incident reminded me of several instances when an individual rubs out accountability on others.

 My friend had lost her pouch at the vegetable vendor’s shop close to her house.  She told the vendor to return the documents and that he could keep the money in the purse but the vendor seemed adamant in acknowledging the fact. The pouch contained her driving license and her  bank ATM card. She got in touch with bank authorities and blocked her card and reported the loss of her licence to the road transport authorities who asked her to get a Xerox copy of the lost licence and get a FIR filed in the local police station. She rushed to the police station in  Pradhikaran to get a letter, to hasten the process of getting her licence back. They asked her the address of her residence, and impulsively said that the area was under the jurisdiction of the De Road police station, which is nearly ten km away. Many of the people felt it was better to pay some money to driving school  authorities and get a licence. When the police verification for our passport was carried out, we went to the Chinchwad police station. After completing the authentication, they said that we need another verification at the DehuRoad police station as we have lived in the present  area for less than a year and that the earlier residence  in Nigdi came under the jurisdiction of the other police station.

The beautiful University campus has dried plants at various spots, perhaps it is because of the variable responsibility of watering the plants  Over the years I have experienced this shifting responsibility in all the quarters of life, very often because an individual is a coward to accept the liability or the lapse. They say that any nation flourishes  with accountable citizens, but people dread accountability. Many a times when they encounter an accident victim, lying  neglected on the road, they are indecisive in  admitting the victim  in a hospital as the accompanier would be tormented with the registration of a case and a series of back up visits. Even when a vehicle lost is registered many trips have to be made to the court spending more money than the loss.

 Many a times the most responsible in the society, the educationists fail to take up the responsibility of the failure of their students as a failure means a lack of interest in the student that is in fact, the failure of the teacher, but the culpability is shifted very easily on the parent.A parent shifts the blameworthiness back on the teacher and the blame game continues. Every day we find people taking pleasure in this ridiculous shifting accountability instead of shouldering or sharing a responsibility.

A keen sense of commitment to a cause without an expectation for rewards transforms the inner strengths  through an awareness to be an accountable and answerable person in societal transformation .

“It is wrong and immoral to seek to escape the consequences of one's acts.” ― Mahatma Gandhi