On Road Spectacles

Recently, I have been traveling in and around by car a lot of times. I love observing places, people and anything that grasps my eyes and makes me wonder. These might be some of the scenes you would have noticed as well:

Macho Bikers: They are the breed that maintain a speed of minimum 80 even in crowded areas and narrow streets. They are young and pumping with energy and they need to dissipate that energy some sort of way. They do this by skidding, wheelies, 360s and going under lorry tires as well. They are recognized with their skull caps, thick silver bracelets and chains, colorful shirts that reveal their bare chest or shades (adorned at night too?) They get cursed by grandmothers, grandfathers trying to cross the road and also by some other people who don’t appreciate their ‘fast and furious’ road skills.

Farmville: I am sure you must have come across this 4 legged class. They chase you or try crossing the road without knowing traffic rules. Few of them don’t feel shy to display their excretory skills while some are talented in eating posters glued to the walls. Some of them cross the road on their own pace and some of them feel tired mid-way in their exodus and lie down, never budging amidst the blaring horns. A few dig their own graves on the tar platform. And no… there are no lost and lonely sad pink cows that give strawberry milk here.

The Piss formers : These are a caste that loves the open air approach I guess. They stand and spray on sides of roads, bus stands, hotels, highways, lakes, drains, buildings, homes... wherever humanely possible. These mostly consist of the bold and brave masculine race. They don’t mind even if the whole world watches- a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do, right?



The Family Pack: I really wonder how they manage to fit a family of 6 on a bike. It seriously seems to be a talent for Indian men to pack and balance their flock on one bike and reach their destination. Not to forget, the poor bike deserves credit too for chugging and pulling under their monstrous weights.Incredible India!

 

So, just in case you see a cycle being a mini Saravana Bhavan utensil Store…

Or men putting their lives in danger…

Or our very own Michael ‘Shoe’maker in 6 wheels…

You know that you are on an Indian Road!!!

The Wise Guy

This is an incident which I can never forget. It was something that was funny and it also taught us a good lesson. Let me get to it then.

Last year, my parents, husband and sister went to some place in Tirunelveli district. My dad took us there telling it was a great place to spot some birds. We went there on a Sunday afternoon in our car. It was situated in some remote, sun scorching village. We arrived there and went up the tower that was exclusively built for bird-watching. Yes, it was quite a beautiful place with a bed of water spread in front and trees further beyond. We saw some ducks and we could see a few storks as well. In a distance, not very clear we could see swarms of pelicans and their nests beyond the waters, perched on the trees. We were not able to see much and my sister was complaining about the distance.

We were standing looking hopelessly around when a man came in a moped. He looked kind of clumsy and shabby. He wore a lungi draped around his waist. A typical villager we thought when he got down from his moped. When he came climbing up the tower with a pair of binoculars, we were a little surprised as mostly villagers don't possess these kind of gadgets. He continued to look at the birds.

It might sound rude, but at times me and my sister have this bad habit of ridiculing people whom we don't know. This time my sister began. She was standing behind the man who was engrossed in watching the birds and started mocking in English in a loud way, " Gibsy, tell this wasted guy to give us the binoculars too na? we are simply sitting here right! look at him staring.. selfish guy!". I was smiling at this when the shabby dressed villager turned and spoke in a perfect English to my sister, " Here ma'am, you can take a look if you want too.."

You should have seen the eye-popping look on my sister's face. Boy, did she feel embarrassed! The so called village man was a researcher who had published 3 papers on birds, won medals and visited the States often to conduct and present seminars. He spoke with such knowledge and intelligence that baffled us. We gave him the binoculars back and thanked him. He sure did prove us who was the wise guy. It was indeed a memorable, funny incident but we also realized never to make judgments based on outward looks. 

 "Appearances can always seem deceptive"