Adventurabad
Let me start this off by saying that I, Arunjeet Singh, of sound body and mind admit that I am slowly falling for the city of Hyderabad (among other things). Having said that, the Hyderabadis do continue to annoy me with their one true undying ambition. That ambition, and inane facts like this sometimes bear repeating, is to be roadkill. You heard me right. This city, with it's brilliant weather (a very mild 19C as I write this), it's great food (you simply must try the biryani) and it's wealth of opportunities (what else do you think dragged a Delhi boy to this city?) is chock full of pedestrian fidayeen most of whom don't even have the decency to look ferocious when they attack you.
No, quite the opposite. They smile at you and wave their hand. Hoping that, by waving the said appendage at you they will suddenly manage to convince you to go down from 70 to 0 in a span of exactly 0.36 seconds. Of course, physics, cruel fact-based mistress that she is, rarely obliges. So people who drive down the streets of Hyderabad constantly weave through traffic trying to avoid the pedestrian fidayeen which leads to other drivers driving crazy. The situation, and I don't think I can put this any more eloquently, resembles a bumper car arena full of infants. See the one way sign in that picture? No? That's alright, most Hyderabadis don't either.
I spent about 4 hours on the saddle of a motorcycle today (never let it be said that FortyOne shirked the steel stallion!) and travelled about 40kms in the city. By the end of that, I wasn't signalling turns any longer and was cursing at myself like a madman as I drove. Now blaming Hyderabad exclusively for my ills isn't entirely unfair. My bike riding capability has been referred to as "wonky" and "scary" by different people at different times. However, having to avoid the aforementioned hand waving street crossers hasn't done it much good. Sometimes, I wonder whether its some sort of state instituted population control measure. You know, maybe some government babu came up with the idea "Lets just tell them that the pavements are for the traffic and the road belongs to them. That'll fix our food distribution crisis!". Or maybe its just that right is left and left is right and all is not right with the local lingo. Who knows, but I do wish Hyderabad would find a way to fix the problem.
My suggestion is that we overfeed the traffic police until they demonstrate a prominent paunch. The paunch is the secret squishy weapon that has, for ages, been employed by Delhi's traffic police to stop oncoming vehicles violating traffic rules (for reference on how it works, see Jell-O).
Note the distinctly pear-shaped umm...shape. Expertly designed to slow down large metallic objects such as runty 100cc motorbikes. Another suggestion involves an exchange program for cab drivers run in connivance (oops! in collaboration) with the government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. I think a bit of road rage is exactly what this city needs. I keep telling s3rioussam that but he, god bless his poor heart, searches for peaceful means.
Right, so it's 1.23am and tomorrow is most definitely a Monday (either that or my computer's finally caught my virus). Go to sleep and get ready for another day of wage slavery. Hurray!
No, quite the opposite. They smile at you and wave their hand. Hoping that, by waving the said appendage at you they will suddenly manage to convince you to go down from 70 to 0 in a span of exactly 0.36 seconds. Of course, physics, cruel fact-based mistress that she is, rarely obliges. So people who drive down the streets of Hyderabad constantly weave through traffic trying to avoid the pedestrian fidayeen which leads to other drivers driving crazy. The situation, and I don't think I can put this any more eloquently, resembles a bumper car arena full of infants. See the one way sign in that picture? No? That's alright, most Hyderabadis don't either.
I spent about 4 hours on the saddle of a motorcycle today (never let it be said that FortyOne shirked the steel stallion!) and travelled about 40kms in the city. By the end of that, I wasn't signalling turns any longer and was cursing at myself like a madman as I drove. Now blaming Hyderabad exclusively for my ills isn't entirely unfair. My bike riding capability has been referred to as "wonky" and "scary" by different people at different times. However, having to avoid the aforementioned hand waving street crossers hasn't done it much good. Sometimes, I wonder whether its some sort of state instituted population control measure. You know, maybe some government babu came up with the idea "Lets just tell them that the pavements are for the traffic and the road belongs to them. That'll fix our food distribution crisis!". Or maybe its just that right is left and left is right and all is not right with the local lingo. Who knows, but I do wish Hyderabad would find a way to fix the problem.
My suggestion is that we overfeed the traffic police until they demonstrate a prominent paunch. The paunch is the secret squishy weapon that has, for ages, been employed by Delhi's traffic police to stop oncoming vehicles violating traffic rules (for reference on how it works, see Jell-O).
Note the distinctly pear-shaped umm...shape. Expertly designed to slow down large metallic objects such as runty 100cc motorbikes. Another suggestion involves an exchange program for cab drivers run in connivance (oops! in collaboration) with the government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. I think a bit of road rage is exactly what this city needs. I keep telling s3rioussam that but he, god bless his poor heart, searches for peaceful means.
Right, so it's 1.23am and tomorrow is most definitely a Monday (either that or my computer's finally caught my virus). Go to sleep and get ready for another day of wage slavery. Hurray!