Roads and Rains
The sky is cloudy and dark, its that time of the year again,
when patches of grey mysteriously disappear under rain.
And the people in cars bump, thump, fall over each other,
All the while splashing mud, but not moving much farther…
Yeah, I get it, it’s monsoon time. And the roads are either full of shit or they are shit. Well, I guess the government’s moon plan went for a toss, and we are back to being clueless about what’s happening. So I decided to see for myself whether there was anything new this time around…
Well, for once, I decided to walk on foot, that being the obvious choice because of my deterrence towards not being stuck in mud or traffic. This way I could also cross roads easily. So I got outside, with an umbrella, an overall raincoat, and knee-high gumboots. Figured this will save me from any water related mishap (be it torrential rains, or torrential mud-splashing drivers). I open my umbrella, and start walking towards what I remember to be the direction to the market road. The very first foot I set outside the footpath results in me going 2feet deep inside some kind of pool-like structure.
I somehow get outside it, to find myself standing in the middle of the road. Screaming horns from all sides alert me to their oncoming (dangerous) approach. Well, I have no idea why I’m being screeched upon, and it is mighty difficult to walk with knee-high gumboots filled with water. So I try to snail my way out of the road. Meanwhile, a rickshaw pulls up near me (brave fellow, I think I might get a lift to the other side of the road). To my puzzled face, he carefully chose a few tasty words, which made my face beet-red. Asking (or not?) what I was doing in the middle of the road, and how was everyone supposed to move along. I looked towards the road, expecting to show him how there is a lane system on the road, when I suddenly I felt like being in the middle of a river(maybe a stream). So I just saved myself a few faces(I have many of them!) and hopped onto the rickshaw. He looked at me as if I were an enemy soldier who had hopped into his tank, asking for a lift…
So after analyzing his carefully maintained glare (I think for about 2min), I told him I wanted to go to the market. As soon as I jump in, he whizzes off like a rocket taking off. Before I could stabilize myself from the sudden shock in the forward direction, I feel another one pushing me towards the right. It was as if someone shot us that way. And then there was another one towards left. Again right, again left. I felt like being inside a rollercoaster made out of aluminum. Right, left, right, left, right, right, left, left… I looked up to see in glimpses the rickshaw making maneuvers like it was… strafing! THE RICKSHAW WAS STRAFING!!! After what seemed like an entire episode of well played quake, the rickshaw came to a halt, and so did my bouncing heart…
Well, so he did drop me off just before market, explaining painfully to me how the bridge to market was out-of-order for vehicles, and that I may cross it on foot as it would be easier than going all the other way. Frankly I think he just hit his strafe-limit. So I started off on foot towards what looked remotely like a partially submerged bridge to me…