Rules derailed..

I hope you can see clearly who the man at the front is. He is an official in the Indian Democracy. His job is to make sure people in the society stick on to the rules laid by the Government. The rules that they deal with are related to traffic and other procedures that should be followed by everyone using the roads which some say are MAINTAINED by the Government (and still they look pathetic :-P). Hence, in short , this man in Khaki and white on the bike registered to the Government can be put equivalent to a guardian. Rather, guardian of society and rules laid by the Government. I happened to go to Marina beach few days back with one of my friends. When I was driving back home, my ride was interrupted by the flashing red signal. I was almost the first one to bring my bike to a halt just before the stop line. After the signal timer flicked for few seconds, I found someone trying to get on to the front of the lot waiting for the green using the small passage on my left which was not even sufficient for a bicycle to go through. I told myself "Wow! What an aspirant!!! He wants to be the first even at a signal!!" Finally, this man's bike stopped after completely crossing the stop line, the meaning of which he totally didn't understand. You can find the stop line in the picture and the man in the front on his bike as if he his on his way back home after winning the whole world. And you can also find that no one else in the picture had crossed the stop line. From his shoes, pant, shirt, helmet and the color of the bike, I recognized who he is. That was when I felt really bad for the people in our society. A man who is supposed to protect the rules has decided to crush the same under his feet. Several men at the same level as this brute in the picture above stand together at signal junctions just to catch hold of those who they say don't follow the traffic rules. And nowhere have I seen a rule that says these men carry an exemption from these rules and they need not follow what they say is mandatory for the public. I couldn't resist my frustration and I was completely annoyed. But, I couldn't do anything other than take a snap of this immorally molded moron. Had it been a common man crossing the rule, I bet the traffic constable at the other end of the signal would have extracted something from his wallet. What makes the difference here? It is just few things which our Government servants lack. They are supposed to be called the Government SERVANTS. But, their actions make us feel they rule the nation. This is because corruption is all powerful in this nation. It is way above people and society. When even the one who is responsible for keeping the rules intact is not prepared to stand by the book, who else can be considered for filling the most essential niche here? I've had several bad experiences with these beggars in uniform who catch at signal junctions me just to suck my pockets dry. May be this is the reason why I consider my feet more important than these brutes with bulky bellies. Some of my friends even advised me not to put these pictures here on my blog as they fear I might push myself into grave danger. But, I can't help it. I can prove anyone I am flawless just by showing them this picture which I love to keep staring at for the whole day. And I can justify whatever I've told about these roadside vagabonds. The man in the picture is just another creature who makes his living on the roads using what he gets from the society. If you still don't know who he is, I'll tell you about him. Ahh..He is totally insignificant. He doesn't have much importance for me to really talk about. I don't think he deserves any explanation. Leave it. I wish to continue this hunt for these senseless scavengers in Chennai. ;-)

Roaring road accidents..

Road accidents are happening at an exponential rate now a days and your vehicle bumping into one of them will be the most unfortunate thing ever. It’s always better to get prepared before hand and auto body shops city of industry makes that easy for you. Collision Repair expert comprises a big chain of auto body workshops that effectively bridge their customers with the best auto repair shops in the town. They have incorporated strict quality measures within their network to ensure that they provide the best to their customers. They personally call back every customer and evaluate their experience, based on which a rating is given to every auto body work shop that is publicly posted in their website. You can also fix appointment online and be assured that your vehicle is in the best hands in town. With Chennai fast developing a sophistaceted and modernizied metropolitan city everyday, accidents have become very common on the roads that people don't even care to help the ones who got their heads into these unfortunate twist provided by their fate. I would like to see the Traffic department coming up with innovative, useful and really sensible road rules to overcome these accidents that often prove fatal for some people. Instead of forcing the bikers to wear helmets, the Government can give bringing in the vehicle lanes on the roads some thought. You would find such lanes only on roads with heavy traffic. But, that makes me wonder why there are no such lane discipline rules available for Grand South Trunk road that connects the city to other southern parts of Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu Police department should realize their purpose which is to ensure safety of society and public and they should also understand their hands can be put to good use other than saluting higher officials and blocking drivers for not following the rules which seem to have been designed only for the benifit of these vagabonds in khakis.

Road behaviors become rude behaviors..

Driving has become a tough job for those who regularly take on the roads of Chennai. With more than 65 million vehicles, the roads in Chennai have become completely cramped and even motorcyclists can't make a way out of the congestion. Traffic police department of Chennai is struggling a lot to bring the increasing traffic under control and their desperation is blatantly reflected by their action of making two-way roads into one-ways. But, the purpose is not served yet. This attempt of the police department has in fact become another reason for the city's traffic to grow bigger. While that is the part of the policemen in adding inconvenience to the society, some people also have bigger roles in building up the annoying congestion, especially when working people are hurrying up to their workplaces in the morning. It was 9.30 A.M and went to an ATM to check my balance in the savings account. After my job was done, I came out and found the far end of the street getting too congested, as you can see in the picture above. It wasn't a one-way and thus, vehicles giving ways for those on the other side of the road isn't a big problem though the road appeared quite narrow. But, that wasn't the cause for the congestion. It was a 2-way and the maroon car was being driven by a moron, who lacked even the basic common sense and parked the car right at the middle of a narrow 2-way road. I had all the time in the world to wait there to watch the other vehicles honking their horns like never before. My mobile phone wasn't too busy and I used it to make a permanent record of the scene that was going on in front of my eyes. As soon as I completed the photo session, the driver came out and pulled the car to the roadside. Just take a look at the maroon car to the righ in the picture. The driver had almost occupied half the width of the already narrow road to park the car. Doesn't it appear like a 3-lane road with a red car trying to break the congestion and enter the street while the moron's maroon car stand right at the middle of the road and the black car was parked at the place where it was supposed to be parked? If an insensitive idiot could cause such a congestion even in a street that is comparatively smaller than the other busy roads in Chennai, I couldn't imagine the impact of such irresponsible brutes who proclaim to be drivers, on the busier streets of the city which is building fast upon its traffic everyday. If these people can understand the basic driving rules and the sense of making the roads traffic-free by following proper lane disciplines, a major part of the traffic in Chennai can be avoided. I don't wish to take the policemen to the task all the time. I want to point to the part of mistake that lies on the side of the public. Either the policemen should be efficient and strictly follow the rules of the department or the people should understand the basic needs to avoid congestion. Situations on the roads of Chennai with people steaming under the hot sun for hours together due to heavy traffic would be the result if the policemen are totally inefficient and incapable and the people are hesitant to stay closer to the rules.

India divided..

We often call our nation united on all basis. We say we stand together during troubled times. We talk about national integrity and the feeling of oneness. We find a current of excitement flowing within us whenever we hear a politician talking about binding the nation together and other crap. But, are we really together all the time? The word 'UNITy is missing almost everywhere in India. Each of us focus on what seems important to us as individuals and thus, our objectives are scattered which shakes the root of unification. This hampers what is known as balanced development in India. I watch news channels most of the times while sitting in front of the TV set. I am most interested in the news related to national issues and the show clouded over the incidents that led to the brutal attacks on North Indians in the so called modern city of India, Mumbai. When the place lacks even the smallest amount of tolerance, which is the fundamental requirement for a Democracy to function, how can it be considered a modern society? The news channel covered the incidents that resulted in brutal attack of Biharis and other North Indians by Maharashtrians. Why don't these people understand for heaven's sake that India is a democracy and every citizen has the right to move wherever he wants within the nation? Land areas and boundaries are all that which are sufficient for the Maharashtrians to set the spark the set the Biharis on flame. Though every single Maharashtrian knows that there is a big political ploy behind the whole scenario, they don't get their tails out of the mess and they are getting on the attacks more seriously than before. Cunning politicians and not so sensible people should understand that India has been divided into different states not to follow the 'Divide and Rule' trick followed strictly by the British. The division into states is to streamline the Governance of the nation. River Cauvery knows neither Kannada nor Tamil. But, the states divided on languages fight for getting their fair share of the water. Natural resources in the nation are available for everyone to use. Why is Karnataka presses so hard on such futile issues and arguments? Housing a Hi-tech city costs nothing more than few billion dollars. What helps in evaluating the state is its co-operation with its neighbors, which Karnataka has terribly failed at. Problem with India is that people are lazy to put their heads to good use by applying their minds on recognizing the path of development and the politicians are too cunning and able to apply more of their minds and time on devising strategies to make fools out of 120 billion people. Census says the literacy rate in India has been continuously going up every year. But, our behaviors don't make us look educated and sensible. We need to grow up.

Rules gone wrong..

Of late, we find so many changes in the traffic rules that are applicable within the city limits of Chennai. Helmets are made mandatory for bike riders. I always talk about this helmet issue whenever I talk about traffic policemen and anything related to them for I've dropped some bucks in their pockets, sometimes for not sticking on to the rules and sometimes for sticking to the rules but failing to convince these jerks in uniforms. At the end of the day, I hate them to the deepest core! Anyway, let me take you through the anomalies in the traffic rules we follow in Chennai. There are hard proofs available to stand firm on the fact that there is no coordination between the traffic police department, the oil ministry, health ministry and in fact, the whole Government. Today, the trend that is invading the minds of traffic policemen is "One-way or no way". Almost 30% of the main roads in the city, which were once used for two-way traffic, have been made one-way which, according to the police department, is an attempt to regulate and diversify the growing traffic in the city. Recently, I had been to Egmore and found that almost all the Roads at the junction had next to Pudupet had been turned into one-way roads. Something told me it's not going to be an easy task to reach the Commissioner's Office. I drove straight and when I was about to take a right, I found that the road is being used for one-way traffic and I had to go straight further. This isn't area with which I am quite familiar. So, I had no idea about the small roads in between the main roads which might probably take me to the destination in my mind. I reached the junction and now the rule is different. I am not allowed to take a right turn, though the road on my right is available for two-way traffic. The journey, straight down the road, continued with my bike running low on fuel. I reached another junction, where the signal timer continued flicking through the numbers for more than 2 minutes. At last I took a right turn, which was exactly the same I should have done 5 minutes back. Now, my destination lied to my right and I needed to take a right turn somewhere. I found a right and also a board that said 'No Right Turn'. But, the funniest part of the rule is that U-turn was allowed at that place. My journey on Kilpauk high road continued. The next right turn was a one-way. So, it kept me moving straight. Finally, the end of a long stretch came to an end and I found that I had reached the place from where my journey from Mount Road to Commissioner Office at Egmore. Thus, what I was left with in the end was a 'Pradhakshanam' around the Commissioner Office. I sought after the help of an auto-rickshaw driver, who, I was sure, would know even the smallest of streets in the city. He made me reach the place through a small street. Thus, I had a 5KM ride on my bike which should actually have been a 300 meter journey. Isn't this an idiotic act that puts down all the purposes of the oil ministry to bring down the oil prices? I was in great demand for petrol for my bike. Demand is the reason for the price hike. I could imagine the number of people who would have faced the same misery on bike as I did. That magnifies the demand which in turn gives Government no room to reduce the fuel cost. Since the entire traffic towards Egmore is diverted to Kilpauk High road, the congestion at the junction at the mouth of the main road has increased to several folds. Thus, the amount of exhaust gases let out in the atmosphere obviously goes up, which makes the conditions highly unhealthy. Thus, all the efforts of the Union Health ministry is made to go up in flames. I doubt whether Mr.Anbumani Ramadoss has the knowledge that smoking in public doesn't add as much smoke as the vehicle exhausts does to the atmosphere when the vehicle engines are put on idling at junctions and when the runtime of the vehicles on the roads increase due to congestion, which in turn leads to same effects on one's health as smoking. This reflects the complete lack of coordination between the different parts of the machinery called Government. Thus, the state has become a vehicle with the wheels at the rear end trying to go back while the wheels at the front pushing the system forward. And the system, which is the society here, stays right at the place where it was before the processes started, leading to stagnation!

Degrading dress code..

What do you see in this picture posted above? An auto-rickshaw trying to make a U-turn at the other end? An auto-rickshaw taking a right turn? A black Ford Ikon trying to take a right turn from the far end of the picture? Yes. You can find all these things in this picture. And you can also spot the cyclist to your left looking at a clown in white shirt standing right at the middle of the road doing nothing. Don't mistake him for a vagabond. Actually, he is one of those vagabonds who are given uniforms and codes of conduct and also the name 'Traffic policemen'. They have a department. They make themselves responsible for maintaining law, order and discipline among the drivers on the roads of Chennai, which are gaining good shapes these days. They have even listed down a number of rules to be followed by the drivers and especially bike riders lately. All these rules are, according to these scavengers of money in uniform, drafted to ensure safety. My question is, whose safety are they trying to ensure? I am quite sure they are more worried about the gloomy days yet to be faced by Indian economy and they have already started filling up their bank accounts using the money which they get mostly from bike riders, to ensure their families remain safe when the whole nation is in grief. These traffic constables call helmet a part of a bike rider's dress code. And they say it's a must for a rider to have a helmet protecting his head while riding a bike. They are more concerned about the riders' dress code. But, look at this man in Khaki pants and white shirt in the picture above. Look closely at the picture. I know you have spotted that the beggar bound by baseless rules has not put on his rain boots. If you have a good vision, you can find another policeman at the far end of the picture, near the black Ford Ikon. You can find him in his rain boots. I accept that rain boots are not a part of their uniform. But, I don't think a pair of toilet slippers is a part of their dress code either. Are they? I never knew Chennai Traffic police department has brought some comfortable changes for making the traffic constables feel good when they become a mere spectator looking at the moving vehicles hours together, standing under the shade and rarely dropping out of it to stop a vehicle for the valuable insurance papers, which if missing would make them ask for the really valuable piece of paper called money. I can't stop imagining the other developments that would have their roots in the department very soon. What do you know? If this is a deliberate change in the dressing code followed by the traffic police, then I could guess the next big changes in line that would be brought upon these maggots. Low waist short pants, Nike shoes, sleeveless low drops, tattoos on arms and also on the bulky bellies, pierced ears and a haircut that appears like contour farming. After all, these would look really cool and comfortable. Won't they? :-P