From the Kurnool bus inferno to deadly crashes in Hyderabad, Jaipur and Uttarakhand; from stampedes in Karur, Bengaluru, Kasibuga and Hathras, to the Rajkot game zone and Surat coaching centre fires, from Morbi bridge collapse to train tragedies in Bilaspur, Mirzapur, Odisha and Jharkhand, and Mumbai billboard disaster, India’s headlines read like a tragic inventory of man-made disasters. These are not acts of fate or nature, but failures attributed to human neglect, greed, and indifference. Each tragedy sparks outrage, promises inquiry, and fleeting debates on accountability but when the ashes settled and the headlines fade, we return to business as usual. A nation that mourns deeply
but learns little.
India today is home to over 1.46 billion people, a land of vibrancy, diversity, and unrelenting energy, yet, paradoxically, in our country where life flourishes, few seem to value it deeply. Safety, for us is not a priority; it is an afterthought. From our roads to our homes, workplaces, and even our digital lives, the pattern is unmistakable, a national mindset that treats danger as destiny and recklessness as routine.
For most of us, safety is as an inconvenience. We jaywalk through speeding traffic, ride two-wheelers without helmets, and drive without seat belts, often with children perched on laps in the front seat. The indifference extends to public transport as well. Buses overloaded beyond capacity, trains with passengers clinging to doors, and even aircraft safety norms are ignored. Every day, someone dies while trying to capture a thrilling selfie or reel, tragic proof that we treat life as expendable, and death as merely content. Rules exist, but enforcement is patchy and compliance even rarer. What is worse, there’s often a misplaced pride in flouting safety norms, a belief that “nothing will happen to me.”
The result is tragic. India records some of the highest road accident fatalities in the world. According to recent government data, over 1.8 lakh people died in road accidents in 2024, that’s almost 500 lives lost every day. When accidents occur, outrage flares briefly, followed by collective amnesia. Investigations are promised, but lessons are rarely learned. Our infrastructure, too, mirrors this mindset. Poor air quality, adulterated food and drinks, ill maintained roads, open drains, unguarded construction sites, and exposed electric wires are silent killers woven into the fabric of everyday life. We are, in effect, a nation gambling daily with mortality.
The carelessness extends to the domestic sphere. In many households, fire safety, electrical hazards, and food hygiene remain largely ignored. Our eating and drinking habits underscore this apathy. Millions continue to consume unsafe water and adulterated food daily, accepting illness as a routine inconvenience rather than a consequence of avoidable neglect. The lack of safety consciousness is not about poverty alone; it is about mindset. Whether in slums or high-rises, the casual approach to risk remains
alarmingly similar.
This attitude has found a new arena i.e. our online lives. We are among the most active internet users in the world, yet digital safety awareness remains abysmally low. People click on phishing links, share personal data freely, and reuse weak passwords across platforms. Cyber frauds and identity thefts are rising exponentially, but few invest time in understanding how to stay secure. We treat online safety with the same nonchalance as road safety until disaster strikes.
At the heart of this problem lies a psychological flaw, the illusion of invincibility. Somewhere, as a people, we have developed mental immunity to fear. We laugh at safety warnings, ignore hazard signs, and often view caution as cowardice. Over time, this has evolved into a collective cultural blind spot, where risk is normalized and tragedy is seen as fate rather than failure.
The irony is that we have built an economy that aspires for global leadership, but we continue to stumble over the basics of everyday safety. A society that does not value the sanctity of life cannot truly progress. The economic and social costs of this indifference are enormous. Beyond the immeasurable human suffering, accidents, workplace injuries, and preventable diseases etc drain billions from our economy each year. This is money that could have built schools, hospitals, and better infrastructure. Instead, it is spent compensating for our collective carelessness.
What we need most are not laws, but a cultural shift. Safety cannot be enforced; it must be ingrained. It should begin at home and in schools, teaching children to value their lives and those of others. Public campaigns must move beyond slogans to sustained behavioural change. Employers must make workplace safety non-negotiable. And most importantly, individuals must realize that life is not expendable. For a country of 1.46 billion dreams, it is time we stopped gambling with destiny and started respecting life. Until we do, the world’s most populous nation will remain most perilous, not because of what happens to us, but because of how little we care to prevent it.
(Brigadier Anil John Alfred Pereira, SM (Retd) is a veteran from Goa, who served the nation with distinction for 32 years)
