Life in Bangalore Chapter 3
| Labels: Life in Bangalore | Posted On 3/14/08 at 7:57 PM
Life in Bangalore
Chapter 3 -Let's Jam
Chapter 3 -Let's Jam
To begin with, let's agree on some facts of life -there's no Santa Clause, money IS everything and traffic in Bangalore sucks. And it sucks with the ferocity and velocity of a black hole. You can enter but you can't leave. With zillions of vehicles in every lane accompanied by the sun-blinding clouds of dust and smoke, the word 'sucks' sounds polite. To hell with whoever invented the wheel.
In Bangalore, traffic jam is a perpetual state of being. It's an integral part of the day to day life. You eat, you sleep, you drink, you traffic jam. Local guys aren't bothered and they would go on a strike if they find empty roads. But for an outsider, jams plus pollution, is a suffering beyond imagination. It's so severe that I think it should be used as the 4th degree torture technique. Take the nastiest of criminals, put them in an auto and make them travel through the lengths of Bangalore during peak hours. Then see them spitting out whatever info you need after 10 minutes. (Give first 10 minutes to spit out the dust.)
The only thing that can parallel this nightmare is the act of actually travelling on these roads. Mumbai's roads are not American freeways. I agree. But at least, the traffic moves. Ok, crawls. But Bangalore's traffic is in a different league altogether. It's not stop and go. It's stop, have a smoke, take a nap, pay the parking charges, pray, pray, pray and if the god has stopped coughing and is listening to you, move an inch. And to spice things up, nearly half of the city is dug up for the Metro project.
This made me develop a very boring theory (while stuck in a jam) - people who travel by public transport are truly gifted. Yes. They withstand the torture and keep on doing so every day. I think most of them would go to the heaven as they are already living through the hell.
The public transport buses in Bangalore are the biggest havoc of the century. They know they have the size, they have the power and they are indestructible. With virtues like these, they ride through gaps with the agility of a bicycle and make people shit bricks with the appearance of a tank. They bully each and every vehicle on the road. Sometimes even each other. Fortunately, skills acquired while riding in Mumbai and training given by our BEST drivers came in handy.
The next in the line are the superficial autos. The first sentence any auto guy blabbers out is "Sarrr... 10 rupees extra than meter sarrr". Obviously with my Mumbai bred habit of being polite on the road, I humbly refused to do so and returned the favour with some pleasant words. After this, that guy took me for a ride and I ended up doing a escorted tour of Bangalore. Fortunately I got my bike soon and the tortures were over after a small trailer.
I considered my self lucky as I ride a bike. It's far more convenient and faster, if not comfortable, than a 4-wheeler. I feel sorry for people travelling by cars stuck in the jam, while escaping through the gaps. All thanks to my bike and special thanks to whoever invented the wheel.
Hello Joshi,
I am from Bangalore Mirror. I found this post really interesting =) I wanted to know if I could use this post for blog talk section in our paper. pls do let me know if you are okay with it... my email id is nt[dot]balanarayan[at]gmail[dot]com
Cool article man.. And congrats on having this post published on todays Bangalore-Mirror..
Dude,
Bengaluru is not even half bad as you have talked in this blog.I am a banglorean currently visiting Guragaon+Delhi. While in gurgaon the amount of dust is equivalent to being in a desert with a perennial sand storm and Delhi our proud capital with ZERO traffic sense and any body with a horn...honking it till the passerby goes deaf or as though it is essential to make the wheels move..and Amchi Mumbai's local trains are death traps on tracks...I wouldn't have lived to write this comment if a GOD's hand hadn't pushed me out of the train when half my body hanged in air with my backpack stuck inside because of overzealous travelers jumping into an already overcrowded coffin without basic human courtesy...! Namma Bengaluru with all its nuances is the most tolerant,safest and easy going city in India especially for migrants.I am sure you will realize it sooner or later..!
hehehe! khara ahe! agadi khara ahe!
he ingraji madhe ahe, kaay pan naay kalala........