The Traffic Safety Mission of ‘Lady Singham’

Hailing from a small town, Bina-Etawa, Madhya Pradesh, Shubhi Jain has proved that big changes can be brought about with a smile. It is just a smile she says, has led people of Indore city to adhere to traffic norms. Till recently Shubhi was serving as a traffic warden with Indore Traffic Police, and has now for last few months taken a new work of B2B Referent Leader, at Decathlon Sports India, in Pune, Maharashtra. Whenever she gets leave from her job, she travels back to Indore to work as a traffic warden. Her passion for doing social welfare in uniform has gone a long way, so much so that the people of Indore fondly call her the ‘Lady Singham’. Instead of pressurising people to follow traffic rules, she convinces them to follow with a big smile. Her traffic warden journey began with a 20-day college internship programme, and today she is the brand ambassador of Indore Traffic Police Wardens

A smile that makes a difference

Shubhi ensures that people feel valued when they are informed about the traffic safety rules. In her own way, she personally greets each person at the traffic signal and thanks those who follow the rules, while politely requesting those who do not follow. Sharing her traffic volunteering experiences, she said, “I believe smile is my weapon, and I realised this when I cheered up a depressed person with a smile. That gave me the thrill, and since then I started appreciating the ones who were wearing seat belts and helmets and convinced those who were not doing it, with a smile.” Shubhi believes that people themselves become a motivation for each other.

The serendipity

Shubhi never had plans to take a traffic warden job. She had visited Indore city, to join an NGO, for a “social internship” programme, as part of her MBA course at Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Pune. Shubhi says, she discovered her passion for serving people, one day while travelling through Indore streets. “I believe that some things in life are unplanned, and it turns out to be so good. That day, I was surprised to see around 16 volunteers at almost every city crossroads and I got to know that the Indore traffic police was inviting these volunteers from various colleges to be part of their traffic safety awareness campaign. This campaign I thought would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me to pursue my passion of doing something for the society and spread awareness about the traffic rules and road safety,” she said.

Without giving a second thought, Shubhi took the permission from Indore Traffic Police and joined the traffic campaign and became part of over 1800 traffic volunteers. She says, “Coming from a business family background, I was more inclined towards joining my father in the business. But, I wanted to be part of something bigger and make a difference in people’s lives. I am driven by the challenge that comes with policing, and when I found that I could wear a uniform and help police control traffic signals, I jumped at the opportunity.”

"I am driven by the challenge that comes with policing, and when I found that I could wear a uniform and help police control traffic signals, I jumped at the opportunity"

-Shubhi Jain

The art of winning hearts

Shubhi began her duty by carefully observing and noting down things, to calculate and understand whether the efficiency is working or not. She noticed that people often did not follow traffic norms because they felt irritated being commanded or they simply might have had a bad day. Sharing her unique way of spreading awareness on traffic safety, she said, “When the signal turns red, I approach people and tell some customised dialogues to them. With such conversation, people feel important and worthy enough. So, this way they are able to connect with the message.”

The many hats of Shubhi

While working as a traffic warden in Indore, Shubhi also established her own start-up and also worked as a radio jockey (RJ) for the morning show. In this way, she used to work as an RJ in the morning, focus on her startup in the afternoon, and spend three hours of her evenings controlling traffic at the High Court Square signal in Indore city. Shubhi says, “Working as a traffic warden, I feel satisfied, and I believe it gives a thrill to my life.” After completing her internship, she went to the Indore DSP (Traffic), Umakant Chaudhary, seeking his permission to continue this work. The DSP deployed her at Indore’s Vijay Nagar square, as a traffic warden.

Prior to joining her duty, Shubhi went through verbal training, wherein the traffic constables informed her about the signal functioning, blind spots, and all the standard operating procedures related to traffic. “The traffic police constables gave us basic training on traffic rules to protect ourselves. Because, while managing traffic, your life is always at risk, and you have to stay alert all the time. It is a tough job," she said.

Shubhi got married recently and is currently serving as B2B Referent Leader at Decathlon Sports India, in Pune city.

Incident that motivated her

Shubhi also shared an incident that motivated her to do this job with even more dedication. She recalled, “I have had mixed experiences. There were times when I felt like giving up because I did not feel valued, but then a positive incident changed my mind.” Talking about the incident she said, “I was upset by the behaviour of some people at a traffic signal, and I wanted to quit. However, after some time, I reached an area where there was so much traffic jam. So, I parked my vehicle, put on my traffic volunteer jacket, and cleared the jam in 12–13 minutes. People at the traffic signal clapped for me. This made me realise that there are people who value me and need me.” Now, she carries her traffic volunteer jacket and helps clear traffic jams wherever she comes across it, even when she is not on duty.

Within four days of joining, as Shubhi informs, there was a decrease in traffic violators. “I always had an intent to work in a society, and I believe that life has given me the opportunity in the form of traffic volunteering. I also love to do it and enjoy it a lot,” she says.

Fame found her

Shubhi, through her unique moves, seamlessly became the talk of the town even when there was no craze of Instagram reels. She was featured in more than 80 media channels across the nation including the reality show ‘Dance Deewane’. She said, “I went viral when people recorded and uploaded my video of managing traffic on social media. My videos gained millions of views, and since I was not active on social media, many people started creating fake accounts pretending to be me. So, a media house in Indore, created an Instagram profile ‘The Shubhi Jain’ for me, and they gifted me the account with 1500 followers.”

The next gear

Shubhi also spilled beans on her future plans to take this awareness campaign forward. She said, “I recently met Indore DCP (Traffic), Arvind Tiwari, to discuss spreading road traffic safety awareness through my social media platform. So, now I also make videos about my traffic observations, such as about driving hacks, challans, blind spots, etc.” With this, she balances her traffic awareness job through both online and offline modes.

Shubhi also urged people to dedicate an hour of their day, according to their comfort, to help others. She believes that it’s important to have something in your life that reminds you that we don’t just live for ourselves but for others too.