दिल जलता है तो जलने दे
I am returning to blogging after a very long gap. It is not that I was too busy or that there was a dearth of things, people or incidents which keep conspiring to multiply my agony and / or diminish my ecstasy. What holds me back is the feeling of futility of it all. But at the end what gives solace or opens the escape route is the mantra "what cannot be cured must be endured'। दिल जलता है तो जलने दे आंसू न बहा फ़रियाद न कर .
But again as I have mentioned in one of my earlier blogs, it is also the nagging feeling that I must speak out against something which I see as totally illogical, immoral, unethical or anti-social. If I am afraid or shy or am denied the opportunity of speaking in public, I can do so incognito, to only myself in the safe confines of a blog. Of course, I am sounding to myself like a preacher who assumes himself to be pious and virtuous and free of all earthly sins. I have no such claims as like any ordinary mortal who is given to worldly temptations and pleasures, I also have my own indulgences. Enough of masochism or self praise. Back to the main point.
One of my favourite itches is the traffic in India in general and in Mumbai in particular. The biggest nuisance in this category is the parking of all kinds vehicles in all kinds of haphazard manner. But the uncontested occupation or usurping of the space near the bus stops by auto rickshaws is unmatched because of the total lack of sensitivity for the public aided by total apathy by the traffic police. Boarding a bus is an achievement not only because you are likely to reach your intended destination but also because in the process you have escaped being run over by a bike, an auto rickshaw or a car or the bus itself. The bus stops away from the designated bus stop because the rickshaws are parked right upto the edge or at times even upto the middle of the stop, many a time in two parallel rows.
Then a biker who finds other vehicles ahead of him on the road to the right of the bus wriggles his way from the left without warning and without any care in the world assuming himself to be the owner of the road and showing utter disregard rather disdain for the petty creatures intending to take the bus. This situation is further aggravated by the nonchalance exhibited by the bus drivers and the conductors who do not wait for the passengers to cross all hurdles and make it to the best. You can hear a thousand curses most under the breath but some crossing the limits of decibels of public decency.
Autorickshaw drivers may be excused because their literacy level is taken to be low. But what about the owners of big cars owning businesses or having offices in upper class malls, office complexes and shopping centres etc. and holding high degrees, donning designer labels and projecting themselves as epitomes of style, etiquette and society manners. Have a look at the sample photographs above how they park their vehicles on the road and near the bus stops.
Look particularly at one of the pictures of a bus stop whereat a sign board says "de-congest the road- travel by BEST"
Bye for now.
