It’s the highway to hell. Officially. There are no signboards calling it out, you’re just expected to know it and abide, or get the hell out of the way.
Every road in every Indian metro is a do-or-die dash to the finish line. There are no prizes for winning - the winner is the guy who stays alive. That’s the incentive.
“Wanna play?” asks the inviting stretch of jam-packed, smoky road with curses and loud horns renting the air – it’s a war cry: “Wanna play? COME ON then”, they say… “There’ s absolutely no space, but come on anyway”.
Assorted automobiles vie for 3 inches of space between the large smoke belching bus and the local cow. Death defying moves are made on-the-house. Red lights, stop signs, pedestrian crossing and lanes are things of the past. Don’t let them stop you from Getting Ahead.
Sign of having humanoid scruples - any dithering or an iota of fear is honked at, overtaken, cursed and sniggered out of the way. Any attempt to put your life or basic decency above the GOAL is not acceptable. ‘Get Ahead, Proceed’ yells the impatient public. ‘Make your little polite speeches and bows later on. We have no time’.
Welcome to the Indian roads – welcome to Hell. Out here, no rules apply.
When you make the decision to get on the road, you’ve automatically agreed to risk it all. Partial hearing loss, smoke inhalation, loss of limb and sanity is all part of the deal. Once accepted, the arms are thrown wide open. Senior citizens, candy seller with dog in tow, techies, college kids, fruit vendors, socialite aunties, who-the-hell-ever in whatever state of inebriation or sobriety. All are welcome. Age, gender, caste, status, time of day or night, physical condition and mental state and the weather are of absolutely no significance.
If you’ve chosen to be on the road - you’ve chosen to fight, chosen to reach point B from point A, chosen to risk it all. That’s enough. You’ve chosen life.
Welcome aboard!
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4 comments:
hmm... i sense a lot of anger young woman!
the truth is i am guilty of doing all these things... this is the reality... cut throat... be it at work or on the road... this is life today!
what meaning does all this hold... i do not know.
I deeply suspect that the insanity is almost by design...More power To DA when he said:
“An eerie type of chaos can lurk just behind a facade of order - and yet, deep inside the chaos lurks an even eerier type of order”
I concur!
concurring is fine as long as you know which side you are on!the point, in times as such is, how much do you belive in what you believe in? and take action?a beer down as i am, i belive it hard to belive that a man as gandhi walked this earth 60 years back :>
Does an urgent need for infra and order exist? Definately.
But do we somehow, by that overrated virtue of being 'swalpa adjust maadi' Indians manage to achieve the impossible in ishtyle? ...well...we do!
Unfortunate? I guess that's the curious paradox of Being India!
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