Now that the customary first post is over, let's get down to doing some serious business. Actually, I am really bad at being serious about anything. Seriously !

What got me writing this post was an incident that happened a couple of days back in front of the Forum shopping mall in Bangalore. It was yet another weekend and therefore time to visit a few friends who live in the vicinity of the mall. As usual, the weekend traffic on the road from Diary Circle to the mall was crazy, packed with all kinds of vehicles which were defying every possible law of Physics in an attempt to wriggle through of the chaos. What made matters worse was the presence of pedestrians trying to cross the road at the same time, regardless of what the traffic signals said. It almost seemed like a battle was being fought between the vehicles and the pedestrians, the sole purpose of the battle being to prevent the enemy from getting to the other side. Most often, the pedestrians would end up on the losing side giving into the might of the vehicles and surrendering themselves to a wait that seemed endless.

This is virtually the scene on most busy roads in Bangalore on most days. Bannerghatta Road is another example where crossing is indeed a nightmare. There are no designated pedestrian crossing points on the road. This, coupled with the fact that pedestrians are never offered the "first right to use" on most Indian roads, makes crossing Bannerghatta Road a frustrating experience. I have been in situations where I have had to wait for close to 20 minutes for the traffic to ease up and let me get to my office. So, when I saw a young couple looking helpless with all their shopping bags, having made a gazillion attempts to cross the road in front of Forum, I decided to stop my car and offer them a chance to scamper across. I had to bear the insane honking that took place behind me, as if to suggest that by letting the couple to cross I had committed treachery and therefore deserved to be called a traitor (and what not). The couple though was pleasantly surprised. The look on their faces suggested that their prayers were answered and that good will had finally descended on the planet. While the couple legged it as though there was no tomorrow, they turned around, smiled at me and showed a thumbs up.

The point I am trying to make here is that, on busy roads where the traffic never seems to let up, pedestrians are often at the mercy of vehicles to give them a chance to cross. Unfortunately, like most other roads in India, the ones in Bangalore are unplanned, have no sufficient signage and more importantly are not pedestrian friendly. And given that traffic laws dont necessarily require that vehicles slow down to let people cross, offering to lose the battle every once in a while to please the helpless is not a bad idea.