I can see you!

Fastfood, Amritsar style ©JMatthew

There I was clinging on to the side-rail and my dear life as the auto-rickshaw needled its way through the tiny alleys squeezing through the passage with surgical precision that only a neurosurgeon can outdo. Stunts that these fellows can do, even Evel Knievel would fail. They knew their vehicles like the back of their hands as if their machines were extra appendages of their bodies. They do not need a reverse camera to judge the distance to the car behind them. Neither required is the irritating tones of sensors for their work. They just need their car horns. Have honk will travel! They swerve past pedestrians leaving a trail of dust and smoke without a care in the world. The blaring horns seem not a last-minute desperate measure to alert but instead gave rhythm to the rickety vehicle and noisy engines like Illayaraja's percussions accompanying his masterpiece. The automan's joy and pride, his horn, gave warnings of different tones, from a light whisper to a yell to an almost angina-inducing 'foul-languaged' curse that 
would chase animals and even people into hiding. Welcome to India. 

This was an entirely new experience for me. Guarded against the vultures from the land of the survival of the fittest, I had it cushy. I had been taught and was expected by the fellow users of the road, to uphold certain decorum. I come from a land where rules were made to be followed, not flaunted.

Here, red on the traffic lights are mere ornaments like the ones that dorn the Christmas trees. Traffic signs are just accessories. Traffic rules are Aesop's fables, only for children. Seat belts, safety helmets, overloading... what are they?

Despite all the chaos, the continuous trail of movement of people with the heated brake pads, nobody seems incensed. Nobody shows any emotion. Like an emotionless poker player, motorists just overcome their obstacles with monastery students' patience. Nobody has time to show their displeasure, either with their middle finger or steering locks. Perhaps, they realise that the mascot-idol on their dashboard is watching their every move.

There is no bottleneck, just a slight hiccup in the system. There is always a little space for an oversized vehicle to squeeze through in these narrow lanes. The pavements are still there for the autos to do a side wheelie!

I see you!

"I was here first!' screamed the tree echoed by other tree
huggers! ©FG

             There is place for everyone on God's Earth ©FG