An exhibition of 12 installations by CADD uses liquor bottles as a canvas to spread the message against drunken driving. Organiser Prince Singhal tells Karan Bhardwaj that over 90,000 people are losing lives every year due to the menace on the roads
It’s a happy day for Rohit and his friends who are returning from a school picnic and just then their bus is banged by a drunk driver driving a truck. The children are crushed to death much before the ambulance could reach the spot. Rohit’s last thoughts were, “Mom, I died even before I could tell you about my picnic.” Unfortunately, Rohit and his friends were among those 90,000 people who die every year due to drunken driving. In India, 70 per cent of 1,50,000 accidents happen because of drunken driving every year.
Highlighting the perils of drunken driving, an exhibition is being held at AIFACS Gallery by Community Against Drunken Driving (CADD). Social activist and CADD founder Prince Singhal has made 12 installations using liquor bottles and vehicles’ spare parts. “You get high when you drink, ignoring what a liquor bottle can lead to when you drive under its influence. So I took a couple of years to imagine this concept and express my thoughts and emotions through these installations. I think liquor bottles are the most effective medium to communicate the message,” he says.
An installation Drive out of bar, Drive into bar shows the image of a man behind the bars while a small wheel is placed on the top of the liquor bottle. There are other metals, too, to show how crude life is behind the bars. Singhal has been campaigning against drunken driving for over 14 years now. CADD, through its 1,200 activities with participation from 600 celebrities, has reached out to over 10 crore people. He is now demanding stricter law and amendment in the Motor Vehicle Act.
“Drunk driving is on rise. Innocent people are losing lives and there is no concrete action against it. It’s a criminal offense but there’s no fear. The Motor Vehicle Act is an age-old watch guard which has lost its claws. There are liquor shops opening at every nook and corner of the city. Delhi has become a liquor and drunken driving capital. There were about 12 accidents last week only. There is a need for stringent laws. Drivers who rumble people under the wheels go scott free the very next day on bail. Why is it not non-bailable offenseIJ It’s still considered as a case of rash and negligible driving. Drunken driving is a case of premeditated act as people know what it could lead to. The person who drinks knows that he is guilty and might cause somebody’s death,” he says.
The exhibition is dedicated to bring forth the seriousness of the issue and its consequences. The exhibition will be travelling across the length and breadth of the country. “We would look at covering 1,000 schools in major metros including Delhi, Chandigarh, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Kolkata and others. We cannot wait for the government to do something. We have to make an effort to change the mindset of people. There has to be separate section in the Motorcycle Act and it must be treated as a murder, not a mistake. There should be zero tolerance against this menace, which has now become an epidemic,” he says. Singhal wants penalties to go up by five times and the accused should be taken to community services.
“He should also be embarrassed in public space and social media before his counselling,” says Singhal who has won many awards for his work against drunken driving. He hopes that the exhibition will help in spreading the word and will encourage people to change their behaviour.