On Monday, a school bus turned turtle in suburban Mumbai.  It had been speeding. There were toddlers inside and some parents too, all of whom had a miraculous escape, albeit with major injuries. My first reaction on reading about this in the next day’s papers was the typical parental one of anxiety and concern. I have a six year old who travels by school bus and while we know this is the way school kids travel, we also have our moments of anxiety.

The anxiety is caused by the manner in which basic safety standards are flouted. The buses are often not road-worthy, are overcrowded, and not all drivers are careful. I remember how horrified I was when my toddler once told me that the driver had been teaching the helper how to drive and had banged into an auto rickshaw. It is not just a question of there not being enough regulating. This is also about the greed of some service providers who jeopardize children’s lives for their own profit.

In this case, the helper and driver fled the scene after the accident.  The driver later jumped in front of a train and killed himself - a gory death, which is not necessarily redemption.

While reading newspaper articles about this incident, I was also appalled by the way the articles kept harping on the religion of the victims and the saviors. About how ‘Hindu’ passerby’s helped the ‘Muslim’ students... how can religion be an issue at such a time? In fact, religious issues probably crossed nobody’s mind at the time the accident happened. I have a feeling it was just over-zealous and irresponsible journalism at work. Human beings help human beings. Why bring in the religion factor?