The siren is audible over long distances . When the siren wails at unearthly hours , even in the dark , the motorcycles start honking and run amok . The pedestrians and cyclists race. General cacophony ensues , and one wonders what the fuss is about. A rickshaw wallah pedals his rickety ,noisy vehicle, loose shirt end flapping wildly , narrowly missing a doodhwala with his aluminium canisters banging against the sides of his mutant bike .
Along with the siren the barriers are lowered inch by inevitable inch. Now the hysteria reaches a crescendo , and everyone , small enough wants to crawl past . Well , almost everyone. A large Honda car slows and then stops , like a law abiding citizen . See , that is the problem with law abiding . In a place where no one knows or recognises the law , abiding by the rules can come a s a major irritant for most of the lawless populace .
When negotiating a one way , I encounter confident motorists and bike riders roaring down at me , from the reverse direction . They are such a multitude that you wonder if you are going the wrong way .
It is common practise to jump the red light at traffic lights , if the coast is clear. But someone from the reverse direction may decide to speed up at supersonic levels ,just to use up the last second of his green light .That causes not collisions but ugly name calling and fist waving in the middle of the crossing with a trillion shrill horns drowning the expletives in a flood of impatient honking.
Mostly , the trespasser goes scot free , escaping harm by a hair's breadth. That encourages him to do it again, and again , till it becomes a habit with him , and he forgets what the red light at crossings was meant for . To halt him , or to egg him on .
Along with the siren the barriers are lowered inch by inevitable inch. Now the hysteria reaches a crescendo , and everyone , small enough wants to crawl past . Well , almost everyone. A large Honda car slows and then stops , like a law abiding citizen . See , that is the problem with law abiding . In a place where no one knows or recognises the law , abiding by the rules can come a s a major irritant for most of the lawless populace .
When negotiating a one way , I encounter confident motorists and bike riders roaring down at me , from the reverse direction . They are such a multitude that you wonder if you are going the wrong way .
It is common practise to jump the red light at traffic lights , if the coast is clear. But someone from the reverse direction may decide to speed up at supersonic levels ,just to use up the last second of his green light .That causes not collisions but ugly name calling and fist waving in the middle of the crossing with a trillion shrill horns drowning the expletives in a flood of impatient honking.
Mostly , the trespasser goes scot free , escaping harm by a hair's breadth. That encourages him to do it again, and again , till it becomes a habit with him , and he forgets what the red light at crossings was meant for . To halt him , or to egg him on .
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