
For an important policeman, being in the news is nothing unusual.
But the reason M Ravi, Additional Commissioner of Police for Chennai Traffic, was talked about recently, interestingly turned out to be — poetry.
Having penned two songs for a movie titled Baalu Thambi Manasilae, he had us inquisitive. We caught up with him at his Kilpauk office to understand what’s more to this man in khaki.
“Poetry has been a passion since college days and I’ve written around 80 poems so far,” starts Ravi, with a warm smile. “Jameen Raj (director of the movie) knows this and approached me to pen the lyrics for his film. That’s how it happened with official permission,” he adds.
He took almost 15 days to write two songs — Annai Enbadhu and Deivangal Undu, but is not ready to write for movies, as he feels it consumes a lot of time.
The 48-year-old lawman looks fresh and upbeat, as he devotes equal time to physical and mental fitness. “I’ve been practicing yoga for last 25 years and I play shuttle every weekend,” quips the cop. How does he spend his spare time? “I have very little spare time, but I make sure that it is spent qualitatively. I read books related to medicine, the Dravidian Movement, and history of poets like Bharathiyar and Thiruvalluvar. It’s difficult to be without these books,” he remarks. Though he is interested in watching Hollywood action movies, he doesn’t miss out Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan and Suriya movies too, and often takes his wife and daughters to watch their films.
A native of Ottanchathiram in Dindugal district and a post graduate in Agriculture, Ravi began his career as an evaluation officer at the Syndicate bank, New Delhi in 1985. After six years, he cleared the Civil Services exam in his first attempt and has held various posts in different parts of the state. “We’ve conducted many awareness campaigns about road safety and created the group Community Liaison Group. We’ve enforced traffic laws like cancellation of license and installed CCTV cameras at many road junctions.
These facilitate monitoring of traffic rule violators. We also identify obstructions like BSNL junction boxes and encroachments, and inform the concerned departments to take action,” says the top traffic cop.
But where does Chennai stand in terms of Traffic Management? “Chennai is one of best traffic managed cities.
The vehicle population of Chennai is 39 lakhs and we’re able to manage them with limited manpower,” he argues. “But no one is ready to obey traffic rules. They expect a policeman at every signal. This should change soon",he adds.
JAM BREAKERS
THE fury and anxiety that runs through us when we are helplessly stuck in a traffic jam is unexplainable. Yet, we prefer to sit in our cars and on our bikes and complain, rather than getting out and doing our bit to sort out the mess. Why? Because we’re so sure that “it’s not our job”. This attitude could stem from the fear of how our attempt to clear the congestion might be received by others on the road. So for those of us who want to be volunteers on road and be authorised for the work, the Tamil Nadu Police Traffic Wardens’ Organisation (TPTW) comes as a blessing.
The members look like the usual, forbidding men in khaki, but they are not. “We do control road traffic at major junctions, keep a check on drunken driving during nights and help police control the heap of people during festivities,” says Azeem, Chief Deputy Traffic Warden and one of the longest serving volunteers in TPTW.
But, he is actually into real estate. “Traffic violators may escape even from the police, but if we catch them, the actions are severe,” he adds.
TPTW, formed in 1977 by the Government of Tamil Nadu to induct high profile people in public service, is a non-profit organisation and its members comprise doctors, businessmen, engineers and people from various other backgrounds.
The organisation has 208 members as of now, and every year new volunteers are inducted through advertisements on newspapers. “Selected candidates go through 15 days of training by the Traffic Planning Inspector and are allotted a traffic junction, where they have to be present at least once a week,” briefs Azeem, and clarifies, “People mistake our members as employers.
In fact, anybody can come and join us; it’s a purely voluntary service.” One of the significant initiatives by the TPTW is Road Safety Patrol (RSP). “We form a contingent of students in every school and train them in traffic management. They regulate the traffic around their schools and also get the opportunity to participate in the Republic parade,” Azeem explains the initiative.
The TPTW members themselves incur majority of expenses, but there are a few corporates to help them as well.
While the TPTW concentrates on schools, The Hyundai Motor India Foundation has taken it upon itself to make college students act more responsibly on the roads. This Hyundai volunteer initiative by its corporate social responsibility division is successfully functioning and is in its fourth year now. “We select 100 students every year from different colleges and train them in traffic regulation before deploying them on road,” says Sridhar, Manager, Hyundai Foundation.
Hyundai volunteers are given a complete traffic kit and paid Rs 1650 per month. “We work five days a week assisting traffic police at signals during peak traffic hours. And we get enough time for studies as well,” says Venkatesan, a second year BCom student.
TRAFFIC ‘JEEP’ RAMASAMY
A discussion on traffic regulation and public support is incomplete without the mention of Traffic Ramasamy.
Though he is popular all over Tamil Nadu for his PILs and other activities, he has now earned the prefix ‘Traffic’, for his relentless preaching about safe road use. And his conviction in the cause has only grown over the years and has led him to modify a jeep gifted to him, as a mobile conveyor of traffic regulations.
He has painted the wagon with symbols, instructions and illustrations of traffic rules and plans to speak about it at every signal stop. “Had the government enforced strict laws against traffic violations, there would have been no need for persons like me. But it has failed in that front, so I’m doing my bit,” he says.