Day 5: 365 Day Blogging Challenge: A Citizens Moorings

I am into Day 5 of the 365 Day Blogging Challenge. One things that I have quickly managed to notice is that words and topics have been easy to come by, most naturally as though they were predestined to fall in place. Most of the late evenings are now spent in reflecting on what has transpired and what could have been. As I rest back and put my words in place, a lot of thoughts freelance their way into my unstructured mind. One way of giving a proper structure to my thoughts would be to give shape to them in the form of words. This blog is all about a common man's moorings as he seeks answers to what he observes in his day to day living.

I start my two wheeler and then remember that my mother has given me some waste material to be deposited in the roadside bin. It is a total eye sore to get to the place where the bin is located. There is waste material all around the bin, and the bin itself is only half full. Why at all at have a bin in the first place? We might as well litter the road, and then we complain that there are swarms of mosquitoes around us, dreaded diseases as well. The corporation does not come on a regular basis is the common complaint? Oh the Truck does come daily but can we take joint responsibility in keeping our roads clean, simple task deposit all waste into the bins and not outside of it.

Having basketed the waste into the bin, I steer my bike on to the road and come to a halt at the strike of orange on the traffic signal. I always thought that Orange is the time for me to slow down and stop at a signalled junction. Looks like No. There is a Two wheeler who zooms past me as if he were on a race track. There is a Michael Schumacher to my right , races by , must be thinking that the winning post is just a few hundred metres ahead of us. Finally there is car behind me who honks in bold, curses me no end for having slowed down as the lights first changed to orange and then to red. Why have Traffic signals at all when we do not wish to follow them. Go have a crash into a wall or a pedestrian and of course an appointment with the heavens above.

TallBoyk, This is India and in India you do as the Indians do. Do not follow traffic rules. Break them at will. I move on. As I drive slowly, several others overtake me. An elderly gentleman on a two wheeler also passes by me. All of a sudden as many of us do, he has a brain freeze moment. He spits on the road without paying any heed to the other riders behind him. I take the gall to speed, catch up with him and point out to him that  this is not done. He has a wry smile on his face, spits out a hurried sorry and goes his way. Apparently he has taken recourse to chewing tobacco. A Few yards ahead of me again, the same gentleman spits again. People never change...Do They? Would they spit in their homes? Guess these kind of people would.

I take a detour to greet a close friend who is the COO of a Cricket Academy where my kids train. I stop to park my bike. There is an educated gentleman who is peeing on the wall of the Cricket Ground. I step up. The Vijay,Rajini,Ajith,Soorya,Kamal in me swell up in anger. I can feel my face go red and my veins appearing in computerized graphic form. I question him. He has no answer, except a mild sorry. Come on this is a ground where kids play, parents come and go. No sense of hygiene or cleanliness. But we will have the gall to blame the government for lack of infrastructure. Agreed that we lack more public toilets, but this way to defecate in the open that too being educated, No not acceptable.

I move on. There is a heavy traffic jam on Anna Salai. bumper to bumper traffic. Honking, motorists cursing and a hot day in the offing leading to more frustration and irritation. In the distance behind me there is this shrill sound of a siren. I quickly realize that it is an ambulance behind me. God be with the patient inside is all I can pray because we seem to have no empathy. We do not wish to give way to an ambulance in emergency. Finally after a lot of coaxing and prodding, the ambulance is give way. Seems the relatives of the patient are behind the ambulance. Wait there are a few hundreds of them in cars, autos,Two Wheelers all following the ambulance, jostling for place. Such a rush to follow the ambulance. The popular English Blockbuster Speed could well be shot here in our Chennai.

I am just a few metres away from my place of work.Suddenly a Two Wheeler Rams into another Two wheeler, both of them at fault, one for going into a strictly one way and the other for overspeeding. Both Rocky One and Rocky Two are two blame. Not one is ready to accept their mistakes, consequently at loggerheads trading quality punches at each other, until a cop decided to intervene and broker peace. The Cop takes them to a shady corner, checks on their documents, is richer by a thousand rupees from each of them. Have you ever heard of the Monkey story who brokers peace between two warring cats. Its the same story being enacted out here.

I am happy to have reached my office all in one piece. But questions remain . I am sure that these are scenarios being enacted day in and day out, begs for our attention but in all our busy schedules and lives screams past our attention. Are there solutions? Yes because every problem is indeed a solution in disguise. We complain about flooded roads, incessant traffic woes, Dirty and Poorly maintained roads. Come to think of it these are problems created by us, so the solution lies in our hands. Lets Ponder over the Weekend. Happy and Safe Driving.