"Bhai sahab aage khadda hai...sambhalke!"

 "Bhai sahab aage khadda hai...sambhalke!"

[ "Brother, there is a ditch ahead, be careful" ]

...exclaimed a middle aged man carrying a huge bag, advising him to be careful. Am guessing he was a streetside vendor and had his products packed in the bag on his way home. I was on my evening walk and heard the man call the ditch out while I was walking towards the scene - an Audi Q7 I think.

"Pata hai, pata hai" [ "I know, I know" ] said the guy in the driver's seat, in a dismissive manner & continued to move out of the parked position. While he did almost manage to avoid the ditch, a part of his wheel did get in one of the corners but probably because of the large wheel base, he was able to get away with just a jolt.

A slight misjudgement & perhaps he could have got the wheel stuck in the ditch, thereby, potentially damaging the expensive car. On the other hand, just a couple of feet of reverse before turning out ahead would have not only eliminated the risk but also would have saved him from the jolt that he experienced.

I wondered why he did not pay heed to the man passing by!

1. Maybe coz he judged the man by his appearance & did not assign enough importance to his advice going by his perceived societal status? What if a security guard or a friend had alerted him ? Would he have paid more attention & taken a better corrective measure?

2. It did seem he was a regular here (from his response) & was aware of the ditch and had a fair judgement of navigating around it - yet he did fail in avoiding it completely - either due to misjudgement, misplaced confidence or plain arrogance in ignoring the warning.

I wonder if we do the same when we get a feedback/alert/friendly advice from either someone we do not know/barely know or from someone we feel may not be in the best position to give the advice. Guess while one need not action every advice one gets, one can a) atleast receive it cordially b) evaluate it fairly c) if unsure, act on it if one feels the upside of acting on it far outweighs the downside of not acting on it.

The guy here could have easily saved himself from the unpleasant jolt (and the risk of higher damage) had he just taken the advice, suspending his judgement on the source of the advice and his driving abilities.

Lucky are the ones who receive timely advice and feedback, especially unsolicited coz your best well wishers may not be around you all the time and it's great to have acquaintances/colleagues/people/strangers around you who would not mind giving those small nuggets (or two cents as we call it ) from time to time. Some of it may actually help one ditch a possible ditch on their way.

PS: On that note, not sure what's the right term for the thing in the image, so used "ditch" that came top of mind. Not sure if I used advice/advise correctly either. Happy to get feedback/advice on phrasing/grammar/content via DM for any posts that I make - I'll definitely not judge you for it, rather would be grateful for it.

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