Rush Hour

Every square inch of the road during the rush hour is precious. It is in great demand and possessed with a ferocious aggression even if it is only taken only for a fleeting moment. If you don't fight for it, you are continually pushed back in the race to get there. It is a desperate struggle every day, from morning till late evening. A hoard of vehicles bearing down the avenue, capturing every available space, and flowing like river out of bounds, choking on the bottlenecks, fanning out on broader path and converging again at the intersections. Like an army, the swarm of vehicles of a great variety advance in ever widening arrays, covering the flanks so that not even a dog may pass through.

Catch-22

The city traffic is a snarl in more ways than one. Every day at the same time on the same road it takes a different duration from point A to point B. While talking about it over a dinner, I said that since most people don’t stick to lanes but pan out and take up all available space it leads to the traffic woes we are used to. A lady in the gathering shot back: In India if you stick to the lane rules, you would definitely end up being late, or worst, perhaps never reach your destination. She had come back from the US for a short visit. I thought that it was a sure recipe for disaster. While it certainly ensured that only a few intrepid ones got their way, most people were going to be late anyway. And the accidents that have been on the rise tell a different tale. When a river flows out of its bounds, it is definitely going to wreak havoc.