Do the Needful

The phrase “Do the needful” means to do what is necessary as in “When driving to work and animals are encountered, do the needful so as to avoid them”. Although I have not heard anybody vocalize that expression, I see it from time to time in written documents. I just think it’s a neat phrase!

As previously mentioned, there are animals on the road that I travel every day. It is so routine with me that I don’t even consider it a hazard or annoyance anymore. Cows or other animals are on the roads; deal with it! One day while riding home from the office, there were several buses stopped in the middle of road picking up passengers. As our driver approached these buses, he decided to pass them up on the inside lane. Imagine our surprise as we approached the front of the first bus when two cows stepped out in front our vehicle. As our driver quickly halted our car, he “tapped” the tail end of one of the cows. It was bumped aside but evidently was not seriously hurt since it just walked away. Our vehicle was not damaged either. I now know why our vehicle has a cattle guard on the front. That was scary incident. Good thing I was not sitting in the front seat.

Another time while driving in downtown Chennai on the way back top to the hotel, our driver had to make a quick stop because of traffic that had also quickly stopped. His stop was not quick enough and he hit a motorcycle. The driver had a rider and both of them looked annoyingly at the fact that they had been hit, but the bike remained upright nonetheless. As they sat there looking at the bike and the car, it almost became apparent that the bike and SUV were lodged together. The rider finally kicked the bike off of the car and they sped away. Later, I had the opportunity to stick my head out the window and look at the front of the vehicle where we had hit the bike. The fender was pulled out, and there were multiple scratches and gashes on the front of the SUV. But there was no stopping either vehicle, and no police reports, and no nothing. Amazing!

The last episode exemplifies to me the Indian spirit of doing what it takes regardless of the adversity. As we were traveling on the road with a healthy speed for once, we had to slow down suddenly because the traffic ahead did the same. The vehicle next to us veered to his right to avoid hitting the car in front of him. When he did that, he cut off a motorcycle rider who then tried to get out of the car's way. He ended up skidding along the concrete median before actually crashing into it, and falling off his bike. I saw the accident and of course I was concerned for the motorcycle driver. As we continued our journey, I asked the others in the car who were locals if we should stop and render aid. Their answer? Nope! The driver will get up, dust himself off, get back on his bike, and continue on his journey if he is not seriously hurt. So there you have it. Indians do not let adversity slow them down. They get back in the saddle and get on with their business. I have seen that time and again during this month, and this event exemplifies it the best!

Do the needful, indeed!