How will the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi react to the traffic etiquette, or the lack of it, among the public in Hyderabad and elsewhere? After recovering from the initial shock, the Mahatma surely would start teaching the public a lesson or two on traffic etiquette. Artist Tirumalasetty Hari Prasad too believes in just that.
The artist is leveraging the image of Mahatma Gandhi to make the public realise that the present-day traffic scenario can be improved only if the ‘change' starts from the individual. “Gandhiji gave us the twin virtues of peace and patience. Both these are missing among the public when they drive. There is absolutely no discipline while driving on roads. There is no point in blaming the traffic police and the change should come from within,” the artist, whose pen name is Teluguabbai, says.
To drive home the message to follow basic traffic rules, the artist, in association with the traffic police, is putting up a huge stall at the Nampally Exhibition Grounds, as part of ‘Numaish'. “The stall essentially aims to spread the message of following basic traffic rules. The traffic police authorities and Exhibition Society were kind enough to provide space for erecting a scaled down model of a typical scene of traffic in Hyderabad,” he explains.
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According to the artist, the exhibition will essentially act like a mirror that will only reflect how the public behaves on city roads. “Nobody has time these days. There are arguments, no one cares for the elderly, and there is a general sense of recklessness among commuters in twin cities. The exhibition at Numaish will showcase all these facts,” he said.
The artist firmly believes that one can judge the character of a person by the way he or she parks their vehicles in a parking lot. “We keep our homes clean but do not bat an eyelid while disfiguring public places,” he said. For more details: 98494-74336/86862-66603.