Dhana Bahadur had been a taxi driver in Kathmandu for over a year. He was, however, never informed about his responsibilities as a citizen. One fine day, he was driving past a busy road flanked by a number of schools and hospitals. Indifferent to the plight of the students and patients, he was blowing his horn at every opportunity. As always, he had failed to notice the “No horn zone” sign. But unlike previous times, he was confronted by a traffic police officer this time. Dhana Bahadur was politely requested by the cop to accompany him to the nearby police station.

He went along, still unsure what his offence was. At the station, he was made to sit in an empty room when all of a sudden he started to hear discordant noises. What started out as small beeps had eventually reached fever pitch. The sounds were nothing but the recordings of drivers like him honking recklessly. Not unfamiliar to such ‘tunes,’ they were unbearable to him now (He would later describe the incident as “traumatic”). Just when he started to panic, the officer walked in and smiled: “You could not bear it for even a few minutes. How do you think school kids and hospital patients put up with people like you?” His mistake finally dawning on him, Dhan Bahadur left, promising not to repeat the same mistake and to share his new-found wisdom with fellow drivers.

This might seem like a small, even insignificant incident. But it has valuable lessons for each of us. You and I might be engaged in some activity that is greatly inconveniencing others wit-hout our knowing about it.

What I wish to get across is that big changes are not possible without taking care of smaller problems that tend to build up with time. For instance, I am sure there are many such untold stories of people learning their lessons from everyday events. As a result, that sewage emptying in Bagmati might have been rerouted. That vehicle responsible for causing unseen number of people breathing problems might finally have been serviced.

For this, each of us needs to be aware of his/her social responsibilities and be sensitive towards others’ problems. One small step in the right direction might prompt a thousand more to tread the same path.