Rushing on Bangalore Road

Yeah, right... this is about rushing on Bangalore roads.. if this raised a question on your mind or brought a smile, then you surely must be a resident of Bangalore or have travelled to this city on business or vacation, or have had the chance to drive or ride on the Bangalore roads sometime in the past.. Past means, say two years time...

I have always observed that the evening prior to a weekend in this city sees all roads packed. I travel to my home town on Friday evenings mostly. Almost always, I end up being the second last person to board the bus from the bus station. You must note that there is always at least one person for whom the bus waits for a few minutes.

As 'All roads lead to Rome', in Bangalore, on a Friday evening, it will seem that 'All roads lead to the Railway Station or the bus station'. In my case, it has always been that every other vehicle on the road that gets signalled on every other cross road in Bangalore, will have at least one huge bag indicating the weekend travel. The vehicles just wont move....

Last weekend, no matter how hard I tried to keep to the timing, I was held up in a dead locked traffic jam. With my eyes trying to see if there is any way out, and a hand bag that seemed to be slipping off my lap all the time, and with constant watch on my wrist watch and more specifically its 'Second' hand, I was praying to get to the bus station on time.

There was a biker next to my auto, looking at the watch to get to the train station or bus station on time.

All focus shifted when the siren of an ambulance went off and the ambulance came to a stop in the traffic. Everyone else on the road was looking at the watch to meet a scheduled appointment which was trivial in front of the people inside the ambulance. There was just nothing one can do in the traffic jam. Some vehicles did move a little to give way, but it was still not enough for the ambulance to rush to the hospital..

Made me ask : So where are you rushing? To take a bus? To catch a movie? To receive a friend? To watch a cricket match? To take a train or flight? To reach a venue for a party?? Aren't all these lowest of priorities in front of the emergency that the patient in the ambulance is facing?

Resolved not to worry so much and started praying for the patient in the ambulance.. That is all I could do, apart from worrying why there is no set way of handling such emergencies in our roads?? Missing that bus no longer worried me much... yes, it would have been difficult, but then at least I was only heading to the bus station...

I must say, Rushing on Bangalore roads, is almost not possible. I didn't say Impossible because may be you could read it as I'm possible and try to be optimistic about getting your way in rush hour traffic in Bangalore, and that rush hour happens to be almost always on all roads that lead to Bus station and Train station.

Quick thoughts on this :

If you live on the outskirts, make sure you have a hospital closer to your place.
If you are going out of town, ensure you leave as early as possible from your house to reach the bus station.
If you are attending a party, tell them you might be late.
If you are hosting a party, give an early timing, so you can start the party at least an hour later.
If you are watching a movie in a theater in Bangalore, dont reserve it on a Friday evening. Make it late evening.
If you are ill, dont wait till your illness gets worse to treat it... Coz your ambulance may never be able to rush on Bangalore roads.

Comments

Casey said…
Something very similar hpnd to me last thursday. We were moving frm I'nagar to KR Puram railway station and were worried tht we maybe late b'cos of an amazing traffic jam. Thats when we heard an ambulance. There was simply no space at all for any vehicle to move. We moved an inch forward to realize tht we were at an accident scene and the young driver was dead - b'cos the policemen wanted to move the body to an ambulance which could not reach the scene.
It was so scary tht we stopped cribbing 'bout being late, blaming each other for the delay, and instead stayed put in the car, holding hands.
Dew Drop said…
Yeah, so I must have been talking about the same ambulance.... that couldnt reach the scene. I was also on the same road, way back from office.. to reach the bus station...
Honey said…
Ok,needless to say,good post as always..but one question: Did u manage to board ur bus? :)

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