Melvin Durai
Millions of students in India are excelling in school and have bright futures. I have a feeling that Sai Anwesh Amrutam Pradhan is one of them. Sai, a student at MBS Public School in Bhubaneswar, is definitely going places, thanks partly to Mo Bus.
Sai sent a series of tweets last Friday to Capital Region Urban Transport (CRUT), which operates the public transport bus service, and its managing director Arun Bothra.
Identifying himself as a student at MBS Public School and addressing Bothra as “Respected Sir,” Sai wrote: “I use Mo Bus as my daily transportation means to go to school. Nowadays the timing of the buses are changed. My reporting time at school is sharp at 7:30 AM. But unfortunately the first bus of route no-13 leaves at 7:40 AM from Lingipur. As a result I will be late for my school. And for this reason I am facing a lot of problems.”
Sai finished his message with this request: “So I would be grateful to you if you kindly look into the matter and take some immediate action.”
My first thought upon reading his message was this: How polite! My second thought was this: How naive! Does he really think a government-run bus service will take “immediate action” and make a change to bus timings to ensure that one student gets to school on time? No way. They would probably respond like this: “Dear Sai, thank you for your request. We will certainly look into it. In the meantime, have you considered riding a bicycle to school? Other means of transportation are also available, if you can afford them, including auto-rickshaw, hired car and helicopter.”
My skepticism is based on a lifetime of experiences, not just with government organisations but also private ones. If they make a change, it will happen only after they’ve received many requests – and even then, it might take weeks or months. Sometimes the change will happen after the person making the request has passed on and you will read something about it in an obituary: “Though John was unable to enjoy the new bus stop in his neighborhood, his widow would like to thank the transportation authority for finally acting on his request.”
But CRUT evidently aims to please and responded to Sai’s tweet the very next day (Saturday). IPS officer Bothra informed Sai that his request for “immediate action” would be granted.
“Dear Sai, #MoBus moves with love of commuters like you,” Bothra tweeted. “The timing of your bus will be changed from Monday. The first bus will start at 7 AM. You won’t be late for school.”
Bothra shared a photo of Sai taking the bus at 7 AM on Monday. “CRUT crew members were very excited to take pics with the VIP commuter,” he wrote.
Sai must have indeed felt like a VIP. He deserves a lot of credit and has set a good example for other people. The lesson is this: If you want something, ask for it. But do so politely, using words and phrases such as “please” and “kindly” and “you are the greatest person.”
Don’t make demands, unless you are in a position of authority, but even then, a little kindness and humility often gets better results.
Thanks, Sai, for setting a good example. And perhaps you can tweet another request to CRUT and Arun Bothra: “Respected Sir, Thank you for allowing me to catch the bus at 7 AM. I just have one more request: would you be kind enough to serve some breakfast on the bus? I do not have time to eat at home in the morning. You are the kindest people on earth and I would be eternally grateful. I have even thought of a slogan for you: Eat Mo Food on Mo Bus.”