Sairam friends,
I had been writing about respecting women but the world has done a lot.There are some who makes Apps. Some claims that they have Big data to tell a women which is the safest road to take to reach her destination and there are others who make some stuff these girls can throw on face of these idiots.
I was reading about how the famous Taxi Startup ( If I can call it that way) Uber’s driver recently raped a lady who was going from her office in Delhi in dark hours. Being a spiritual site, I am not sure if I can use this word but seems I have to because I want people to be careful. I agree, this could have happened to anyone traveling by any taxi service.
And why did I just mind my business and did not even think about this issue? Because the victim is not my close relative or my friend. We all react only when bad things happens to our “Universe”.
What if the girl was a Sai devotee? May not be but she could be. Won’t she ask what Sai was doing without protecting her? How does such a thing happen in the “So Called” cultural country. Honestly, Lets come to reality. India has changed. Its no more your so called culture happening here. It has changed decades back.
I can go to the extent of asking why on Earth do we need an American company to ride on Indian roads? This incident has made even someone who supports globalization and Startup culture like me to think patriotic leaving away my broadmindedness. I can’t ask that way because we live in a united economic world.
Uber, Ola cabs and Taxi for sure has also contributed in helping thousands of drivers earn better income and enhance their standard of living. The problem is they do not directly employ these drivers and also may not have total control irrespective of being tracked on GPS system.
There are Indians creating big companies in western countries and we welcome anyone outside to have their footprint here. We just expect you to behave the way you are supposed to. Your standards are not in the service or in the technology you use but in following the basic ethics.
If my post is being tracked by one of those customer relationship management application in Uber, I would like to request them to stop collecting data about me. Rather, they could think creatively to see how safe they can make the rides safer for Men and Women taking their taxi around the world.
1. Can you replace the pain the lady went through?
2. What will you tell her if you meet her face to face?
I am not against Uber but the whole era of Startup’s which grows so big that they make billions of dollars but fail to address minor issues. Why didn’t they do background check for this driver who already had been arrested for attempted rape case?
Was it not in your Business plan when you first launched the Startup? Or you felt, Everything is OK in India because we are fools who accept anything “Western”.
No.Again I am not against Uber.
I am against my own idea about technology. By trying to solve problems, are we creating a Startup culture which ignores the basics?
I don’t want any answer. I just feel we don’t have “Awareness” .
I just have humble prayers to Shirdi Saibaba to keep these Men, Women and Children when they travel.
I am in hurry to go to work and yes. I like Uber. I love Startups. I just don’t like their negligence.
What can we do to the women who had faced such a pain?
What’s does it mean to her if your company is worth $ 40 Billion dollars?
Every human being counts. Let everyone travel Safe.
Note – For those who don’t like Shirdi Saibaba, I am sorry. I just use StarSai as a platform to express my opinion. Its no more just a spiritual site. To me, its a way of expressing my love for humanity. I wish we create a better world and request Startup founders and enthusiast to take this in to account.
Venkat
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Sairam! My two cents: Uber is helping a lot of women/men without cars to get around safely, especially in American college towns. What I want to mention though is of course no one can undo the horrible experience this young lady suffered. But I don’t think it’s Uber’s fault. Uber in India is run by locals I am quite sure, they should’ve implemented background checks etc.
Especially given the high number of such assaults against women in India. The Uber concept is good but implementation needs improvement. Uber needs to change, the culture in India and in America for that matter needs to change when it comes to crimes against women. If I dare say so, women also need to be extra cautious about where they go, when they go and how they use these services or any other for that matter since they are almost always the victims, not the perpetrators of such crimes.
PS: The lady was not going from her office, she had dinner with friends and was leaving a restaurant to go home, fell asleep in the Uber vehicle and when she woke up, the vehicle was in an isolated place.
She was in the end driven back to her residence by Uber driver but she was warned to keep quiet about the incident. May Baba protect her and all the women in this world from such unspeakable crimes!
Edit: Yes. You are right but I wrote this to warn people having an impression that anything western is ‘Safe” and ‘Good’ when even such Startups are keen to make money in India rather than proving good standards. As you said, one has to be careful and keep informing their dear one’s where they are going, if they are on way home etc – Venkat
Things go very wrong at certain times in people’s lives. A surgeon who has performed numerous successful surgeries is blamed when one patient is lost. It is the same with services that benefit and help make life easier.
When there is lack of respect and extreme stress in people’s lives, both of which dilute the boundaries established for conducive societal living, things go awry.
It is us as humans/women/men that need to be careful and accept that life is fraught with risks of so many kinds.
We could benefit more if the company introduces its checks and balances of the right kind to ensure that customer service is of top quality, safe and reproducible.