Driving on roads these
days is a big tamasha.
As you try to take
your car out you find another vehicle parked in front of your gate. You are
frustrated. Somehow you manage to locate the owner. The person is angry with
you for daring to request him to move the vehicle a bit. He grudgingly gives
you some space through which you manage to squeeze your car on to the
road. You are not yet on your way. As you move forward there is the lazy cat
taking its nap in the middle of the road. It refuses to budge despite the loud
horn. You don't like to run over it either. A good lady buying milk from the adjacent
shop rushes to carry the cat out of harm. You cannot still proceed. The truck
with soft drinks, a number of two wheelers, three wheelers and four wheelers
are parked haphazardly.
Dodging them all you
manage successfully to shift to second gear. Your travails are not yet over.
There is the school van picking up children. Mothers stand in the middle of the
road conversing happily with the crew and waving 'bye to children. You reach
the main road. The traffic is heavy and no one lets you enter. You put the
vehicle into first gear and start crawling. At last a good soul lets you in.
The travails persist. You cannot accelerate because the vehicle in front moves
at a slow pace. You cannot overtake since there is a steady flow of traffic in
the opposite direction. The impatient drivers behind you honk their horns
sharply imploring you to lift your vehicle out of the road. In between you find
two wheelers roaring past on the right and the left. As a rule overtaking is carried out through the left. You have the women riders and drivers sticking to
the middle of the road at 10 to 20 kmph. You have to manage the dogs on the
road as well. Another impediment is the people happily crossing the road or
jaywalking totally immersed in their mobile phones. Then we have men and women
idling their time rooted close to the omnipresent puddles on the road. Even if
you drive very slowly you'll splash dirty water on to the idlers inviting their
wrath. Yet another danger that you come across is the girl or woman popping out
of her compound all of a sudden on to the road simultaneously tying her hair ignoring the heavy traffic. As you cruise along you hear a noise of high decibel. Your companion is scared stiff. You would advise her to keep calm for it is nothing and that it is only a ripe coconut falling on top of the car denting it.
If you are able to
overcome such minor impediments more are to follow. There are drivers who take
their vehicles in a zig zag manner to avoid pot holes popularly known as
gutters on the road. They are unpredictable because they are concerned about
the welfare of their vehicles alone. The passenger buses move along at a
leisurely pace stopping and taking off without any signals. The three wheelers
are strange companions on the road. They follow no rules. They would crawl
along to pick up passengers. The moment they have a passenger they would race to
their destination throwing safety to the wind. They would take U-turns
in the middle of heavy traffic without any indication.
Finally as you reach
your destination you come across the security guard who waves you in looking
the other way. You'll have a hell of a job avoiding hitting or injuring him and
at the same time avoiding crashing on the outbound vehicle.
You heave a sigh of big relief as your vehicle come to a stop.
Unfortunately more is in store. You have parked your car under a tree. The watchman rushes in frantically and tells you that in a strong gush of wind a branch of the tree has fallen off severely damaging the hood of the car. It puts you at your wits end.
Unfortunately more is in store. You have parked your car under a tree. The watchman rushes in frantically and tells you that in a strong gush of wind a branch of the tree has fallen off severely damaging the hood of the car. It puts you at your wits end.
Driving indeed is a
big tamasha.
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