"Road fear and Exam fear are the two fears I've never had and will never have" - so said a 16 year old Shilpa who was studious and raced town buses on her BSA Ladybird!
I have strongly stood by my statement till date, well, literally till date!
This very evening, a motorbike screeching past, too close to the right of my vehicle and a not-so-pleasant experience of being sandwiched between a carefree push-cart vendor and a car whizzing along, left me with something like an electric shock in my heart. Is it sane to call yourself fearless of a blind demon slashing away in all possible directions?
Possibly, the speeding car that rammed my vehicle's front panel and left my circulation system short of a few hundred millilitres of blood (or whatever quantity is sufficient to soak a sandal and drip over), has made me more conscious and cautious on the road.
My two-week bus travel post the accident made something of an early bird out of me and on resuming my two-wheeler ride to college, I found that it was actually possible for me to start earlier than (the usual) 8.30 a.m. to reach the 10 km-away college before 8.50 a.m.! Travelling in a relaxed mood, I have been able to observe my fellow road-commuters. A surmise that applies to a majority of them is this- An Absolute lack of a sense of coexistence! Eight out of ten people seem to possess a book of traffic rules that reads:
- Your own job is the most important! Get to it as quickly as possible; never bother about anything else.
- You may start as late as you please; but ensure that you always reach your destination on time!
- You don't have to slow down at cuts or U-turns; the moron driving straight ahead with no clue as to your sudden arrival in front of him shall pay for his ignorance.
- Jump the red signals; the recently installed cameras near traffic lights are actually for screening people for bike-stunt ads.
- The noble pedestrian has all rights to cross the road with no regard to the vehicles coming ahead; the road, after all, was built using his tax money!
- "Keep Speeding" is the mantra; "Keep Left" is outdated.
- Horns that sound like a pack of wolves' howling are the in-things.
- You may remove the silencer of your motorbikes, to draw attention to your sleek assembled bikes and your cool riding stunts.
- Helmets are for sissies who prefer safety (haha! what danger can ever befall a hero?!) and don't mind hair loss!!
- You may even start your bike without a key (well, some new technology will crop up) but never ever start it without both your ears plugged to your I-Pod or Cellphone with its media-player belting out your favourite songs!
There are definitely more of these and might be observed by yours truly in the days to come.
I admit that I used to be a very fast driver pre-feb 18,2011. But now my eyes are wide open to the road around me. I'd always believed that if I ever met with an accident on the road, it would be by my mistake. Alas! I was shown that there was atleast one guy who was a more careless driver than me.
Does everyone need to pass through such an ordeal before he/she realizes what I have realized?!
Fear, may be uncalled for; Awareness, most definitely, is needed!
