Nation of queues - Mindset is the culprit

India is no longer the land of snake charmers. Rarely do we find one on our streets these days. But we are a nation of queues. Wherever we go, we have to stand in a queue and wait for our turn. Almost every service provided by the government, like issuing a passport or a driving license, can be availed only by standing and waiting in a queue. It looks as if queues are mandated by the constitution of India. Queues get even longer at our temples, it is not uncommon to see people standing in queues for hours just to catch a glimpse of their Lord. Buying any kind of a ticket, be it a train ticket or a cinema ticket, is even worse; we stand in queues without any guarantee of getting one. We wait to get our things billed at a retail store; the days of shopkeepers waiting on customers are gone. When we go to withdraw money from an ATM, a queue welcomes us. Go to deposit your money at a bank branch, another queue awaits you. The only way to consult a doctor is through a queue; the more famous the doctor is, the longer the queue gets.

We got so used to queues that we don't find them odd any more. A generation ( probably more than one) grew up in queues, pardon the pun. It all started at the school in the name of assembly. We can even be proud as no other nation on earth can match us in queues.

People, in general, do not like to wait for their turn. That is why societies find ways to get rid of queues. I wonder why we as a nation did not make much progress in that direction. One can dismiss this as a consequence of having more than a billion in population. That is probably one reason, we do not have 'enough' of anything to serve such a huge population. I think there is a bigger reason. I am afraid it stems from our mindset, which is characterized by the urge to get ahead of one's neighbour, no matter how silly that race might be. We rush, pushing others aside, to get into a bus even when there are only 10 people boarding an empty bus of 45 seats. It is this mindset that causes so many mini-stampedes in our country. It is this mindset that necessitates queues. We can get rid of many a queue if we can change this mindset.

There is also another reason. Only when there are queues, there is demand for 'short cuts'. More demand for short cuts means more bribes, more power to those queue creators. So the bribe seekers, read public policy makers and implementers, would want to create more and more queues. It is for the people to realize and  resist any such attempts. Any politician framing those policies,   welfare or economic or citizen service related, which create more queues is in reality doing more harm than good to the society.