Welcome to Bengaluru

I had read a lot of articles, newspapers and blogs explaining the traffic chaos in Bengaluru and was always under the impression that they may be “exaggerating” their reporting but when I experienced it myself, I realised that they were spot on and sometimes being polite about the situation. There is no way that this situation will change or improve, even for an optimist like me. It is not the lack of road awareness that is the problem but “A Total Lack of Respect” for smaller vehicles, drivers who are “learning” to drive, pedestrians. Plus add the never ending constructions (see iimage, courtesy Hindu). The first few days were a nightmare but over a period of time, you do what everyone does here, just drive without losing your “cool”. Be aware of the minute spaces next to your car or bike as there will be another bike or a car almost sticking to your vehicle. The biggest culprits are the taxi drivers, buses and of course who can forget the “evergreen” autos (some of the autos are painted “green”!!!) who will turn without warning, stop without indication, and of course turn in the tiniest of spaces if the front wheel of their auto can fit in!!!. What surprises me is that the person who has to turn left in say 50 meters will be on the right most lane and will decide ….Oh my God, I have to turn now!!! And then there are these special people who will see the vehicle in front of them with their turn signals (right turn) on and these people will have to go straight ahead and keep honking and try to join the other traffic going straight, and of course you guessed it right, they are not allowed an easy path……But the funny part is when you try to tell them about this, their response would be “Namgu gotthu, neenyaar helakke? (We (respect for themselves!!!) know the rules, who are you to tell us the right thing?). Of course, every time I am asked such a question, I end up speechless!!!. Bharat Bundh was one of the best days to enjoy driving on city roads as there are no autos, taxis and in some areas, the local transport (BMTC buses). The pollution levels fell to an all-time low in Bangalore for that “special” day. Irrespective of your political affiliations,

A bundh one day a month is very very healthy for the environment!!!