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Its
9:38pm and I am walking back home from work on the busy Geetanjali road. Cars,
scooters, motorbikes, autos, trucks, tempos zoom past and I am constantly being
shoved into walking on the extreme side of the road; almost from the sloping
entrance ramp of one house to that of the next. Pedestrians in India are a
non-entity in the minds of anyone driving a vehicle; motor or otherwise.
Just
like everyday, I’m walking on the road preoccupied with the events of the day
in my mind, when suddenly I hear this continuous disturbance in the distance.
And it becomes louder by the second. I’m jolted out of my reverie only to hear
the very highly annoying horn of yet another car trying to whiz past. Only it
is not being able to, because I’m walking on a reasonably pedestrian share of
the road. I end up being forced to
take cover between a narrow space between two parked cars, while the honking
car passes by, hissing angrily at my delaying presence. Pssst! Make way already!!!
In
my own defense, I glare at the driver expecting a matching expression back.
There is none. Puzzled, I gaze-follow his silhouette in the dark of the car and
instead see a small child sitting in his driving father’s lap, having fun with
the various buttons in front of him. The one that makes a sound takes his
fancy, and he honks away in glee, unmindful of any egos being ruffled by his
seemingly nettlesome conduct.
Peas anyone?
Peas anyone?
