S he is as passionate about acting as she is about driving . Gul Panag, who enjoys her travel and plans them in a way that her journey is without any glitches, is a role model for commuters.
At a time when road accidents on Indian roads are leading to a great number of fatalities of its citizens, the actress has become a crusader for accident-free driving and is as vocal about the deplorable condition of Indian roads as she is about the need to avoid drunken driving.
Excerpts from an interview conducted on the sidelines of NDTV’s Road to Safety Conclave in New Delhi:
You are an avid traveller, having travelled in over 30 countries and dozens of cities. Can you share your the driving experience in India?
Driving on the Indian roads is an adventure. Everyday you drive on the road you are pumped with adrenaline; escaping each and every bike and truck that whizzes past you on the road is an adventure. Condition of the roads has also made the travelling experience very adventurous. This is something we should not be proud of. India has largest number of road accidents. So, I think that the traffic needs to be more regulated and we need to have safer roads.
What are the precautions and safety measures that you take while going out for driving and what would you like to advice the youth for being careful while driving?
I never get into a car without doing a walk around it because you cannot drive around a road and say you have a punctured tyre. You should know if your car tyre pressure is low. It is an aviation technique that you need to do a walk around the aircraft before getting into it, whether it is a giant 380 or 747 aircraft or a single engine jet that I fly. The basic safety drill before flying is doing a walk around. No matter how great the physical condition of your car was yesterday you need to make sure that everything is fine.
I try and plan the amount of fuel required while driving ; it is again a learning from aviation. I don’t want to run short on fuel on my journey. It makes my journey more seamless.
Another thing that I do and advice people while travelling across cities is to avoid travelling after dark. I am not saying this because I am a woman; I think that the possibility of things going wrong in the dark is greater. You don’t want to be changing a tyre in dark; you don’t want to be stuck alone in the dark. So be cautious while driving in dark.
You are a licensed pilot now. How was the experience of learning to fly?
The most incredible thing about pursuing your hobby is discipline. It teaches you discipline, and once you have pursued your hobby you will always have some great things to do at a friend’s wedding or at a dear one’s birthday. So, when you have scheduled the time go fly, because it is not like learning to play a guitar or a musical instrument. You need to be much more disciplined; I had to secure 70 per cent, you cannot just pass on getting 35 per cent. So, aviation has taught me discipline and compartmentalisation. While you have compartmentalised your time to something, nothing should come in between. People must pursue their interest outside work, otherwise we would be like animals. We should go out and chase our dreams, overcome hurdles and think out of the box.
There is a stereotype that women cannot be good drivers. What's your take on this?
Statistically women are better drivers than men. Being less in number makes us careful drivers. Actually the problem is with the conditioning, we are taught to be delicate and technical chances are given to boys more. So, women are never too much confident hence they are very cautious while driving.
What is the message you would like to convey to the people always in a hurry?
It is never okay to break a law or take things for granted. People must realise that laws are made for their greater good. You might be caught in a situation where breaking the traffic signal seems to be justified, but in such situations just stop and think from a different perspective. Every time think about the consequence, step back for a moment and think, you would always get the right answer.
