Choc-a-block

It’s been ages since I took baby steps in Bangalore; precisely 10 years; even more. One persistent element that seems to stay stubborn is the much-rattled about traffic. Pathetically stalling and an intense energy-sapping, blood-sucking straw; eats right into the core!

Strained as it is, where does one begin? It’d take pages and eons together if one had to document the sheer nothingness of the never-ceasing traffic qualms of city life. But hey, it’s not just complaints that I have to ponder upon; heck, there are the more positive, brighter twists to traffic. How about I say, think about the people we might bump into en route your destination ; could turn out into an interesting tete-a-tete, don’t you think, or perhaps might qualify as one of the most dreaded nightmares?  But to think of it as one of them lessons of life; now that is something to consider.

I’m sure a lot of us commuters share a common frustration every day―the undying, deafening sound of the horn, honking away in all its glory! The mentality goes something like this: "The car has a horn; gotta use it, even if it means fellow commuters go deaf." Stubborn and persistently annoying; knowing one does not have a choice but to wait patiently for their turn at the poorly-managed traffic lights, just for the absolute moment to slither by.

But how could we forget the infamous traffic-crackers! There’s a lot one can learn from their behavioral patterns. To list a few―they lack patience, they always seem to be in a hurry, as though the world is about to come to a painful end within a matter of seconds. It makes you wonder if you are going to be the last live human to walk the earth! Confession time: Guilty as charged!

Most of us put our lives to the test in the most uncouth of situations―at a level crossing, for example. You notice the diverse reactions and actions of commuters. There are those who wait patiently as the scheduled train has passed by, there are those who decide to play blind ‘n’ deaf and honk persistently; and then there are those who duck and scoot, as though dodging the railways: “Catch me if you can.” Needless to say, if not cautious, in the blink of an eye, there would be nothing more than a chopped and mashed version of them smeared over the level-crossing, which the cleaners would have to scoop away, and that too, if they actually care. Considering how busy every Tom, Dick, and Harry is nowadays, you’d be lucky, they even took time to notice your plateaued remains smeared out there. I mean, seriously, times have changed a good deal.

If one is a traveller abroad, they are sure to notice the vast difference in how traffic is managed. Yes, almost everybody is on wheels—two, three, four, six; you name it, they sure own one. But they have rules, and most don’t dare disobey them. Heck, they even have severe laws against littering! To relate one such traffic rule in South Africa—honking is considered rude; to ask for directions, one must take time to exchange pleasantries before actually asking what you have to, or else you get the looks.


Keep to the traffic; be safe; a little patience goes a long way. You stick to your lane; I'll stick to mine.