This evening i returned early from office as its a weekend and decided to watch a night show.
After the movie we decided to go to MG road at Empires to have dinner. The idea was that as there would be no traffic jam at 12.30 AM in midnight it would be a good experience but it turned out to be an eye opener and made me wonder whether i really stay in a place like this.
The trip went like this. At 12.3o we came back walking to our flat to pick up the bike. MG road is around 10 Kms from our place Sanjay Nagar and we thought it would be a refreshing drive. My roommate decided to drive while we go to MG road and by default it meant i had to drive on the way back.
The weather was great and nice breeze was blowing. We reached from Sanjay Nagar to Mekhri circle without much problem however just after Mekhri circle and before Cuvery theater we heard the first Honking cab overtaking us. The road is a 4 lane road and since we were on bike the driver had ample space to overtake us from right but he honked. My reaction was that cabbies always honk and drive rough. I give them a discount on swearing as they are on the road for the whole day and are obviously frustrated.
After this once we reached near Le Meredian hotel a bus entered this road from the left and didn't even care that we are coming from a priority road and he should wait. Result Ashish applied the brakes and just then 4 sumo cabs, 1 bike and a car overtook us without even caring that they almost ran over us in the process !!!!!.
Now i was pissed off by this attitude. From there to MG road we got countless honks for being on the left side of the road and for stopping at red signals and for driving at 30 km/ hr :(
Once we reached Empires we saw an ocean of people waiting outside empires to have a late night dinner and i wondered whether anyone cooks at home in Bangalore or not ?????
Anyways we found a table for 2 at empires and somehow ordered food in midst of all the noise and chaos. If one looks at the people having dinner it feels like all the hep crowd of Bangalore was there but the decibel levels in the reastaurant were at a level which is unacceptable for any ears. I felt as if i made biggest mistake of my life by coming here for dinner. To worsen the situation even more this hep crowd was honking incessantly and continuously below the restaurant to ensure that none of them falls asleep on the road and for showing off that they are very much awake and kicking !!!!
Once the dinner was done we just wanted to get out of that chaos and go home.
On the way back i took the rider's seat and my roommate took the pillion's . As soon as we entered crossed Anil Kumble circle on MG road i saw a car which had run over the divider. Fortunately the driver was alive. (Who says that drink and drive is not safe. This again is a Educated Bangalorean who would not dare to touch the steering wheel after a pint of beer in a european country :( )
A guy stopped his car in the middle of the road to have a look at the whole show and never cared that he is standing in the fastest lane blocking all the traffic !!!!!! This frustrated me even further and for the first time i honked :((
On the next signal i waited as it was red. Many educated, well settled, highly qualified bangaloreans didn't care and went about jumping the red light. Once the signal was green i started moving and i saw that a guy was coming from the opposite side without even looking where he is driving. Another guy came from other side and i had no option but to wait on a green signal for these 2 to cross. These guys almost sandwiched me when i screamed and the guys put a break on there cars realizing that they have to look in front and drive. Yes they were looking sideways....(Who says that 1 should stop at red and move at green signal)
After this i was frightened.....
Now i was driving in extreme left and just then 2 couples whizzed past me on there bikes at blazing speed. My guess is that they were again educated IT engineers who cared less for their lives and even lesser for others....
By the time i reached Sanjay nagar signal so many vehicles had overtaken me from left and right that i was actually shocked.
As we reached home me and Ashish congratulated each other to reach home safely and felt that we won't be able to gather courage to go to MG road at least for next 1-2 years. We also thanked Bangalore's infrastructure that it causes Jams whole day which makes people like us feel safe to drive. (If someone hits you at 10 Km an hour chances of survival are more)
So this is Bangalore's traffic for you which can make seasoned Bangaloreans like me and my roommate (We stay here since last 5 years) frightened and forces us to think how should we leave Bangalore and which is the safest place in terms of traffic.
Note that i am not afraid of being dead but am really scared if someone disables me in a road accident coz then i would be a liability to myself, my parents and friends.
So Bangaloreans if you read this then please for your own sake Drive safe and respect traffic rules. Or else we would always project ourselves as global players to outside world but in reality we are as good as wild monkeys who are trying to imitate human beings!!!!!!
Its 4.00 AM now and probably i would need to sleep thinking of tonight's experience as a bad dream
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