Dear SUV man/woman: Hope you and your fine vehicle have been well. I am sure your automobile continues to gleam and shimmer in the sun as it did before, under your fine patronage, of course. Not a spot would still escape your Wayfarer-clad eyes (changing fashion preferences, maybe?)
Four years older, a little wiser about the ‘roads’ (ways) of the world and still tall enough to be visible unless blind, I write to you again with my innocent and hapless plea. I have managed to survive on the roads (barring a few near-misses), purely owing to my cat-like reflexes as your stunner of a car continues to “almost-kill” me every day, swerving and swaying across those tight corners and streets much like a gazelle.
Even Nico Rosberg has retired and the Indian Grand Prix has long gone out of fashion but you don’t look anywhere close to giving up, it seems, undeterred by the turns and blocks that the Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata or Bengaluru Metro systems may spring on you. Still treating the roads like the Buddh International Circuit track, eh? (whilst our government seems hell-bent on turning them into the ruins of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro).
I am no longer a novice on the roads, having trudged along the streets that you and your beast rule. But not much else has changed in all these years. Red still means Go for you and the zebra crossing is still the start line for your race. The traffic rules still the same, as are you and my life in constant peril. So this time round I thought, why not encourage you to make a new resolution for the new year and make life better not just for yourself but for me too because I still have the ambulance and the police on my speed dial.
Please don’t misunderstand me; I am not trying to be a kill-joy here, nor do I hold any past grudges. I have tried my best to tango and salsa out of your way on the designated footpaths and traffic crossings, walking only when I am supposed to and stopping whenever the lights tell me to. I know your ‘beast’ likes to play with the prey, but this game of hop- scotch needs to stop.
Hoping you would heed my advice and take that refresher course on good-old traffic rules. Your old friend, The Innocent Pedestrian.
sreetikaraymohapatra
@gmail.com
