My Analogies - A Sticky

I have discovered in the past one year that I have somewhat of a talent for analogies. And since I spend a lot of time driving, a lot of analogies I am going to put down here will be related to that. This is going to be a sticky post, because as when these analogies come to my mind, I will put them down in this post. Maybe when I have enough posts, I will make a book out of it and of course it will become a best seller ;).


1. The roads, vehicles and the government. (Draft)
I tend to drive fast. I know this is wrong but something I just have to do. My philosophy in driving greatly reflects my philosophy in life. But that's for another
post.

So, I tend to drive fast. When I am going to office in the morning, my foot will be like rocks on the accelerator and I will be overtaking cars, bikes, trucks, buses by the dozen. I will of course be slowed down by some people who do not have basic driving sense but that does not deter me. After a few minutes, when I look around, I will realize that the same vehicles puttering along at 30 km/hr have caught up with me and in some cases are even ahead of me again. I am bamboozled. What happened? How did they catch up with me? When I reflect I realize that all the slowing down, and waiting at traffic signals gave them a chance to catch up with me without putting in any extra effort. They were able to just amble along and the traffic system ensured that everyone traveled in more or less the same time frame.

Do you see what I am driving (no pun intended) at? Our government (at least till date) has created an environment where speed and efficiency is not rewarded. Where, even the slow are able to catch up simply because the government puts in so many roadblocks and red signals to slow the fast ones down. The government's philosophy of governance is directly reflected in the roads and the traffic. The government does not ensure a level playing field but believes in bringing everyone to the same level. This is done through quotas and reservations and other such instruments.

Imagine if the roads were all converted to expressways with no traffic signals. Just signs and guidelines of how to drive and at what maximum speeds. Who would win? The fast ones will get to their destination the fastest and the slow ones at their own appointed time. The system will be just an observer making sure nobody breaks laws and observes the guidelines. This is of course happening slowly. There are expressways being built in tandem with the economy being deregulated and a leveler playing field being created.

2. 6th Std Classrooms and People (Draft)
I find that a majority of the ways in which corporations, governments and people in general behave can be directly matched to how kids behave in 6th standard classrooms.