An elderly gentleman’s’s car and a bike got into a minor accident over the weekend. Both the drivers and the vehicles were safe. The car owner offered to take the biker to the hospital, to confirm he wasn’t seriously hurt. Many of us got this message immediately on our Whatsapp group and reached the spot. Meanwhile, a crowd had gathered, and it quickly turned into an ‘us vs them’. The biker also changed his tune and the atmosphere turned aggressive. Soon 2 cops, 5 men, the biker and the senior citizen were in a conversation clearly with aggressive undertones. The cops were trying to calm the biker, clearly as there was no bodily injury/ damage to vehicles involved. With numbers sort of balancing on both sides, so to say, the issue settled down quickly. We worry, had we not reached then, it was turning out to be a case of several men bullying a non-local, so to say. We took the biker to a clinic closeby. Some of the mob came too, so we stuck around, just in case they’d try to bully the gentleman into shelling out money.
A while, and much aggressive stand later, everyone dispersed.The issue settled down, without blowing into a major row and money changing hands, because there were 4 people by the elderly gentleman’s side in a matter of minutes.
Of course we all assumed the worst and rushed. But this could easily have become a bad situation.

This incident has triggered the speedy deployment of the proposed personal safety application for android phones that empowers you against acts of violence, and helps summon aid in an emergency. It lets you send out SOS alerts not only to friends & family but also to Whitefield Police (Inspector and beat constables), Bangalore police control room and of course a group of volunteers from Whitefield Rising.  Volunteers  who are willing to help others during emergency situations have started registering themselves to help with this intiative.

If you are interested in being a volunteer, email hello@whitefieldrising.org.

Please raise your hand for volunteering. Our safety will go up dramatically!