The ‘Jamaluru’ campaign by Bangalore Mirror seems to be a great initiative, on paper at least. Bangalore seems to be battling with traffic issues from times immemorial ( actually a few years ) …The vehicular traffic is multiplying by hundreds everyday, the roads aint getting any wider and with the metro rail thrown in makes for the perfect recipe for turmoil on the road…But while the Jamaluru guys log their heads together and come up with a solution, what do we, the ever so innocent, ‘victimized’ , civilian people in the city do? Complaining and cribbing seems to be the favorite option…But then complaining about the traffic situation in Bangalore is just about as good as complaining about the chill in Alaska.And when you just have to commute on the roads on an everyday basis, for your bread and butter, you have to deal with the jam ! (:) and suck it up & make your peace with the road. So, I have tried to look at the silver lining on the pollution clouds and compiled a list of few things that could be done ONLY during a commute on Bangalore roads , during a traffic jam or otherwise, which might just make it all look less of an ordeal than made out to be....
• Catching up with the fast-motion action: Early morning commute in the city witnesses different kind of people hurrying about for work, parents dropping their children to school, hurried goodbyes, conversations across autos, and my favourite sleepy-eyed youngsters scramming to make it to class which makes me nostalgic of my own times only a few months back!
* Seeing the world from pollution-tinted lenses-the sights that will never be mentioned along the GDP growth stories of the country. Skeletons in Impoverished, battered clothes pleading and prodding and begging, prepared with props like prosthetic-ish makeup wounds, borrowed infants in tow, photos of gods and deities or the industrious ones selling anything from magazines to dusting cloth to nifty gadgets like the car charger to the rather ‘signal specials” like the Rubik cube or the little pack of siblings performing somersaults and belly dances, all in a bid to earn a few rupees to get the day by…
• Observing other people , their expressions, their quirks… The cute techie in the civic , the romantic couple in the auto or bike to whom you just can’t resist screaming ‘get a room!’ or the creepy guy on a yellow Karizma with bleached jeans and hair ‘Dhoom machaoing’ on the roads! Always manages to bring a smile to my face….
• Touching up on make up- Traffic jams are a blessing in disguise when you’re on your way to somewhere where you just have to arrive looking mint fresh ! Be it touching up on the gloss or darkening the eye pencil or simply inserting your eye lens, bring on the jam when you have to pretty up !
• Feeling on top of the world: lately I’ve totally patronized the Volvo buses plying on the Bangalore road. What amazing feeling to be sitting inside this high, air-conditioned, comfy bus, protected from the pollution and grime outside, literally feeling ‘above’ everything else and watching the city rush by or just catching up on a book or the papers ..Good for the environment and easy on the pocket. It saddens me to see so many Volvos running almost empty , thanks to people preferring personal transport and those menacing autos that are responsible for 45% of the pollution on roads, not to mind the tantrums and the over-charging issues..
* Stills on the move – During a commute in the city, at a jam is when you put that camera phone to a good use and capture the most honest forms of humour for posterity! …which includes gems like “ available- Child bear” on a liquor shop or the classics people put on their bumpers . “ Don’t kiss me”, “ horn if your horny”! XYZ would agree who’s made millions from his collections of collages of road signs…
•Commu(ti)nication ! – Now this one wasn’t getting a miss was it. Interestingly on the move conversations make for very productive talks...Besides before a meeting where you're gonna be holed up the entire day, you could finish all the messaging and gassing and you’ve reached your destination even before you realize it!
• Music on the move: Tune out those blaring and unnecessary honking, wroooooms and beeps and just plug in your iPod earphones and catch up on the awesome music or Videos you haven’t had the time or opportunity to listen to… stats have it that 43% of the music in the world gets listened to on ‘ the go’….( stats also say that 43% of the stats are made up on the spot ;)
Alright folks I’ve reached the end of this commute ! So that makes it the last point! Blog on the move...Journeys however small, have inspired the greatest of writers… did you JK Rowling conceived Harry Potter while on the tube in London?
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