*** People who know Bangalore might relate to this post better****
This morning I had the misfortune to drive the Hosur road stretch from Koramangala upto Keonics. I and my little Zen went through myriad experiences in that half an hour journey which I wanted to share with you. Although popularly called a road, this loose-gravel-high-accident-risk thing perpetually has some construction work being carried out on it. While it lives through the never ending cycle of cracking up and getting re-laid, its commuters are doomed to negotiate erratic traffic, horrible driving conditions and of course horrible drivers.
On a particular bad patch of the road, we encountered this guy driving his pick up truck (lawry) jostling for space against bigger vehicles. Of course he lost and got left behind amongst a group of passenger cars, in which my Zen was minding its own business. This king of the road appeared to have graduated to four wheeling after enhancing his skill to kill in a 3 wheeler. He may not be a Formula One material but his One Formula was to get his front wheel right into the middle of the hubbub of vehicles and the rest of the auto will follow. The fact that he now has 2 large wheels in the front as well as a much wider and bulkier vehicle doesn’t matter, his formula remains the same. With relevant glands firing on all cylinders from his pituitary at the top to you-know-what at the bottom, a heady mixture of morning Sambhar and last night’s tharra in his intestine, it was a miracle that his vehicle was not flying already. In trying to do just that, he veered into the lane I was in and while his vehicle just missed brushing mine, his road rage did brush off on me. I floored my gas pedal and chased him, announcing our little contest. With odometer ticking and adrenaline kicking, horns blaring and other drivers glaring, both vehicles meandered over the ever-changing width and topology of the road. Within a kilometre of the contest, it dawned on me that when the tough get going, the going gets really tough for everybody on the road. On the next junction, I gave him the right of way, brought my vehicle to more humane sub-60 speed and carried on merrily negotiating the other problems of Hosur Road.
On the way in to work, I kept thinking – are you what you drive? Does the beast under the hood also translate to a beast behind the wheel? Do we let the size of our engine determine the size of our……ego?
If the answer is yes, then a small car owner like me will keep cowering on Bangalore roads and happily say “Ji Hosur” to the other kings of the road.
This morning I had the misfortune to drive the Hosur road stretch from Koramangala upto Keonics. I and my little Zen went through myriad experiences in that half an hour journey which I wanted to share with you. Although popularly called a road, this loose-gravel-high-accident-risk thing perpetually has some construction work being carried out on it. While it lives through the never ending cycle of cracking up and getting re-laid, its commuters are doomed to negotiate erratic traffic, horrible driving conditions and of course horrible drivers.
On a particular bad patch of the road, we encountered this guy driving his pick up truck (lawry) jostling for space against bigger vehicles. Of course he lost and got left behind amongst a group of passenger cars, in which my Zen was minding its own business. This king of the road appeared to have graduated to four wheeling after enhancing his skill to kill in a 3 wheeler. He may not be a Formula One material but his One Formula was to get his front wheel right into the middle of the hubbub of vehicles and the rest of the auto will follow. The fact that he now has 2 large wheels in the front as well as a much wider and bulkier vehicle doesn’t matter, his formula remains the same. With relevant glands firing on all cylinders from his pituitary at the top to you-know-what at the bottom, a heady mixture of morning Sambhar and last night’s tharra in his intestine, it was a miracle that his vehicle was not flying already. In trying to do just that, he veered into the lane I was in and while his vehicle just missed brushing mine, his road rage did brush off on me. I floored my gas pedal and chased him, announcing our little contest. With odometer ticking and adrenaline kicking, horns blaring and other drivers glaring, both vehicles meandered over the ever-changing width and topology of the road. Within a kilometre of the contest, it dawned on me that when the tough get going, the going gets really tough for everybody on the road. On the next junction, I gave him the right of way, brought my vehicle to more humane sub-60 speed and carried on merrily negotiating the other problems of Hosur Road.
On the way in to work, I kept thinking – are you what you drive? Does the beast under the hood also translate to a beast behind the wheel? Do we let the size of our engine determine the size of our……ego?
If the answer is yes, then a small car owner like me will keep cowering on Bangalore roads and happily say “Ji Hosur” to the other kings of the road.
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