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Horn Not OK, Please

Everyone around me was fast asleep. I was the only one staring out of the window. Try as much as I can, I just can't sleep during the 1 hour journey to and from home to office. Its been like this for almost 2 years now. Damn all the horns blaring in the background. It irritates the hell out of me.

So, this morning I was sitting in the cab, the same scene as of all days, everyone dozing off and me wide awake just staring into oblivion. I was just thinking of the kind of drivers there are. There are guys who ride their bikes like they are super heroes straight out of super movies. And usually, these guys are inspired by movies like Krissh... A personal observation has been the when the bike is extraordinarily good, the guy riding it usually sucks and vice versa...

And then there are the cab drivers. And when I say cabs, I mean Tempo travellers, swaraj mazdas, sumo's, qualis' etc. (basically company cabs with sleeping employees). These guys are always in a hurry. They always have to reach somewhere ahead of all the others. They jump signals, break all the rules of traffic, physics, biology and every possible rule.

Then there are buses. Ok... The guy who decided that there should be a bus stop after every signal on the Ring Road, should be dragged out onto the streets and shot!!!
Anyway, about the bus drivers, these guys own the roads, or so they think. They turn, over take, move, slow down or just stop as and when they please. They dont know the concept of lanes.

And then all the other guys driving private cars. These are a little better of the lot, mabe coz its still their own car, bought with their hard earned money. But it seems to be a trend these days to completely ignore the traffic signals. Those RED, GREEN and AMBER lights, remember?

The poor traffic signals at every junction.. they are totally ignored and they look like they have been placed there for just display. Maybe some music and fountains, will complete the pretty picture.

People take pleasure in jumping signals. Infact, people stare at you angrily if you are waiting for the Red signal to turn Green. And in case, traffic has halted at the Red signal, 30 seconds before it turns Green, people start moving. What are you going to gain if you wait for 30 seconds more? you may ask.
What are you going to gain? I ask, considering you are inevitably going to get stuck at the jam, half a kilometre down the road.And worst of the lot is the guy who insists on continuously honking while the signal is Red and there is not an inch for anybody to move.

Ok, my basic problem is just with the whole of the traffic situation and let me not even get into the topic of traffic jams and the plight of roads. I just want to be able to catch up on a little bit of my sleep. I wish people would stop honking when it is not going to help. Everyone wants to get wherever they want to get as early as possible. Surely, being stuck on the roads of Bangaore is not a pleasure by any means. So lets just try to make it as tolerable as possible.

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