Tax advisor with a different idea of good returns

Dharmvir Verma, 37, likes to call himself ‘Dharmvir Hindustani’. He’s a tax consultant by profession. But in the mornings and evenings, for close to an hour and a half, he stands at one of the busiest traffic junctions in the city — in the middle of Sector 4-7 intersection — holding flex banners with traffic messages. He has been doing this every day for the last six.“Itna padhne-likhne ke baad bhi agar hum apne desh ke traffic niyam todte hai to hamey sharm aani chahiye,” says one of the banners held by Verma (“Despite being educated, if we still break our own country’s traffic rules, we should be ashamed”). A photo of chaotic traffic is placed side by side with an image of camels lined up together. It reads, “Padhe likhe vs samajhdar” (the literate vs the wise). Around six years ago, when Verma was headed to a friend’s wedding, he got stuck near Sahara mall because of a jam at IFFCO Chowk. After walking 2km towards the choked junction, he reached the source of the jam. Verma says took it upon himself to manage traffic, and vehicles started moving. “People who were stuck in the jam for hours started saluting me while passing. Some even came and hugged me,” he recalls. He recognised, then, that he needed to take a stand.According to Verma, people don’t realise that by not following traffic rules, they are impeding the progress of the country. “If instead of one cop, four cops are deployed at a traffic junction, it raises the burden on the taxpayer and reduces the workforce, which can be deployed for better use,” he explains. On several occasions, Verma has also collaborated with the city’s traffic police, but his journey has not been without its fair share of struggles. When he started this work, Verma faced stiff opposition from his family. “A friend of my father told me, ‘Aren’t you ashamed your advocate son is standing on the road managing traffic?’ My father was furious. I waited for a day and told him, ‘Aren’t you glad someone didn’t come and say to you (that) your son is molesting girls on the street?’” he says.There are days when the spirited Verma takes the social media by storm. And politicians cutting across party lines have stood alongside him. “Some people criticise me, that I’m making this political. But if more people hear about this through them, I have no problem associating myself with anyone,” argues Verma.Verma’s philosophy can be summed up by another of his banners. “Red light par ruk-ke, green par chalein, kahe to log, desh ek saath khada hai, aur ek saath chal raha hai” (“Stop at the red light, move at green, let people say the country stands together and moves together”).