My dear Chennai Roads :)

Chennai Road in Peak-hours

Well, I’ve been thinking for quiet a long time to put up this. But it always remained back in my draft list. I have been into a long backtrack whether to put up this or not. Finally my time has come to vent out my resentment towards my ROAD-MATES. I know it’s not a big matter of deal. But still being a girl and driving a two wheeler in a city like Chennai is not a simple-to-do task. I always wanted to write-up so that people will appreciate, that driving is not a so-pleasant-thing.

Whenever you drive down the road, you can see that the number of female two-wheeler drivers have been significantly increasing. I am, each time contented and feel independent that I drive a two- wheeler. But driving every day to work, on busy areas like Triplicane, Royapettah, Gemini flyover, Teynampet, Anna Salai, and Nandhanam makes me really exhausted in the early hours of the work day.

The roads being highly trafficated since the number of car-owners and bike-owners have been on a rise since the year 2000 as per statistics. I have, in the past five months or so, have become a master of Chennai peak hours traffic. I have established myself a few rubrics which helps me seriously to abbreviate my travel time as well as keep myself calm while driving. The fact that has to be accepted is that there is no such thing called as a traffic-free route in Chennai.

While driving in the impossible roads is a curse, my dear co-driver fellows of the Share Autos and auto rickshaws – leisurely move around but have a supernatural ability to enter and exit sideways in traffic and also stop instantly for no reason or to sometimes overlook or pick up commuters. They also tend to get into wrong lanes and then exit at the last direction of their choice. The drivers are consistently fairly aggressive and incline to combat their way into making you pay for their mistakes!

Apart from these share autos and auto rickshaws, there is another turtle which moves on the roads - The MTC buses - generally better performers than the private buses except when they approach a bus stop where they turn into some out-of-date freaks out to destroy and block everything in their path. You need to also watch out for the pedestrians at these bus stops because they most always assemble in huge groups in front of the bus-stop.

Tata Indica, Toyota Qualis, Mahindra Maxi cabs and other private cabs - the drivers of these vehicles are close by cousins to the Share auto/Auto rickshaw drivers and they share the same character traits which is a bad news for ‘proper-driving’ person along for the ride. The drivers of these vehicles feel that the other vehicle is too close only when there is physical contact and it is rare scene, an Indica or any private car without a dent or scratch on all the sides of the car!

Trust me I have close encounter with luxury cars driven by owners who are on the phone and don’t concentrate on the road. People walking in groups on roads least bother about the drivers on road. I always watch out for pedestrians and unless there is need I will not touch my horn. To be really authentic and straightforward, dogs, cats, cows, and other co-living things react to the horn sound in a much sensible way than my dear fellow human beings.

Dear Road mates BE CALM & DRIVE TOLERANTLY !

It takes 8,460 bolts to assemble an automobile, and one nut to scatter it all over the road :) :) :)