Size does matter- Especially on the Mumbai-Pune expressway

Recently, the Mumbai-Pune Expressway has been in the news for the wrong reasons. Entire families have lost their lives and there are many more who've been injured.
The increasing fatalities on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway have been attributed to over-speeding,frequent lane changing and reckless driving. All of the above is true, but there is one reason that has been missed out and an important one that too.


Lane discipline: I am not talking about small car drivers changing lanes...that's already been acknowledged. Here I am talking about Heavy vehicles particularly Trucks,trailers,tempos and the likes. Hogging all the lanes on the express highway is what they do!They do this much to the chagrin of car drivers who are then compelled to either trail these huge iron monsters at the speed of 20 kms per hr or then try to squeeze through whatever little space risking dear life. Overtaking then becomes rampant as there is a traffic build up and every car driver is trying to outdo the other to go ahead.The fear of getting stuck in a jam behind an overloaded truck compels even meek drivers like me to join the rat race.

What is even more scary is that on fairly steep slopes there is an overloaded truck making strange screeching noises going backwards rather than forwards and there is no way to escape because there is bumper to bumper traffic behind. I have experienced all of this making my driving less pleasurable and one that is filled with stress. Once I was stuck in a jam alongside many others because 3 trailers decided to hijack all the lanes and while they were at it, They suddenly broke down in a staggered manner on a slope just a little before the Lonavala exit.What then! We were stuck for over an hr. till the traffic cops got the traffic moving through a small lane which was really the shoulder.

What is the solution to this? Most countries internationally have rules wherein heavy vehicles have to drive strictly in the third lane. I have noticed this message on a random board or two alongside the expressway and that too in english. I wonder if they are able to read these at all. Why can't these boards be in hindi/ marathi?
Once we talk to them in their language they will follow what is being told. Those who despite this continue to break the law need to be heavily penalized.

There also needs to be an overall public awareness of how to share the road safely with large trucks and vice-a-versa.Untill then, I wish everyone a Safe Drive.

Article on Mumbai Pune Expressway
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/More-blood-on-expressway/articleshow/7449523.cms

Hastey Raho

Laughter they say is the best medicine. To survive the fast pace and high pressure lifestyle of the city life one needs to develop a good sense of humor. Developing that funny bone ain't too difficult in a city where infuriating things keep happening around us and sometimes even with us i.e. that incessant honking, garbage seeming to fall from the heavens above, your boss who seems to fly over the traffic to reach just before you make it to work...You get the hang of it!So all I'm asking of you city rats is to join the bandwagon and have a good laugh. Remember Boman Irani from Munnabhai MBBS & his laughter therapy to deal with his hatred for Munnabhai urf Sanju baba...

Here I've listed a few funny incidences & observations specific to Mumbai that made me laugh. I hope they make you smile at least :). If you have some of em' you'd like to share do feel free to add them...It need not be Mumbai specific, it's just got to be original and yes-funny...


Bhagooo!
One day a police officer from a small & quite village close to Meerut got a transfer to Mumbai.He was awestruck by the sheer sea of humans that flowed unrelentingly...He had heard quite a bit about the life in big cities especially about it's fast pace...But he was quite stunned to see that people were literally running all the time.Maybe he thought this could be their way of keeping fit. But he din't want to hazard a guess.So one day when he was at CST station he jogged alongside one such Mumbaikar and asked him Bhaisaab yeh sab loog bhaag kyun rahey hai! (Brother, why is everybody running?)

To which the he replied...that arey yeh saab train pakad ne ke liye bhaag rahey hai agar aapko pakadni hain toh app bhi bhago...(everyone's running to catch the train...if you want to get into it you also should run)




Travelling by local trains in Mumbai is not for the weak-hearted.Many a times even strong contenders bite the dust.One glance at the bursting compartments could immobilise you and you would probably not run towards, but far away from this loaded bullet and the fastest mode of transportation in Mumbai.


Human frogs: A specie unique to Mumbai


There is an animal in each of us...One sees their characteristics surface time and again. Here we are talking about the striking behavioural resemblance to our innocuous amphibian friend- Frog. Since it is a temporary display of this behaviour we will call these travellers human frogs. This specie is not only for Discovery and Animal Planet viewers. It's a must for those newcomers who're to become one with this group and most likely transform into one themselves (not out of choice of course). To see these one need not venture far and wide. Just go to the starting point of CST/ Churchgate stations in the evening at peak hours and watch these human frogs perform. These humans transmogrify into this specie out of their need to secure a place in the train. The preparation for this transformation starts as soon as one reaches the station. Women tuck their sarees, tie their duppattas, stand in ready get set almost go position.When the train starts making an entry into the station. Suddenly there is a flurry of activity, without even letting people get off from the train people start leaping onto the compartment doors zooming to get that enviable window seat or even just a seat or space to stand.


There is Shanghai at the end of the tunnel
I had read sometime back about Mumbai getting a makeover and it would soon look similar to Shanghai...I haven't been to Shanghai and doubt if most Mumbaikars have have gotten the good fortune of visiting this city. I would love to visit it someday though and sure most others would like to do the same. Of course there is a small impediment to going there at the moment, read affordability. But I am certain that there are plans in place to overcome even this hurdle. With the amount of digging that goes on in Mumbai, I am certain the government is paving way for a cheaper way to reach Shanghai.Afterall! shouldn't Mumbaikars get to be see what Mumbai will look like post the makeover


Well that's entirely my view on the digging that goes on in Mumbai. But there are others who suspect that this has to do with a lot of booty that has been hidden underground and they are definitely digging to get their hands on it.
Well there could be some truth in their theory as well.Maybe many many years ago some politician or bureaucrat actually hid all his illegal money to hide it from the Ayakar Bhavan.



So then I could go on and on...but then I want to leave some space for those who would like to contribute to this blog as well...

Hi,

Back from my hibernation and this time I'm writing a short poem on the myriad colors that I think make up for the imagery of Mumbai. Recently, I read that the colors of our taxis are going to be changed to a beige with brown trimmings. I've expressed my views on this change through the poem below. Hope it's a good enough explanation.



Colors that define Mumbai city~~

In Mumbai every colour has a story to tell
It's what defines this city, that some call heaven and hell

The cemented gray and the mossy greens
Are surrounded by the intense blue of tarpaulin

Turn around and you will notice
that not a wall or even a corner is left unblemished

Red designs and sprays of yellow
Make most people squirm and bellow

Signs don't mean much " Please don't spit"
Is just too much!

The whiteness of the zooming political cars
Is in stark contrast to the black money of these czars

Of common people and rush hours
Of jangling bangles and marigold flowers

Traveling by the black and yellow luxury
Against the crowded red bus, which seems like drudgery

Black crows and gray rats
Live in peaceful co-existence and have no spats

The amber that spreads across the evening sky
Makes my heart go sigh!

Colorful people and a colorful city
Changing a single thing would be such a pity!

MUNNA ON THE RUN: The yellow umbrella

MUNNA ON THE RUN: The yellow umbrella: "One evening as I was driving, crawling back home, I thought, 'there is something about the decay of Bombay that is beautiful.' It can't be t..."

Whose road is it anyway??

Recently, I joined the bandwagon and took to owning a vehicle and even driving it myself. This is one of the most perilous decisions I've taken. Why? Simple, in our country the onus of the pedestrian safety lies on the vehicle driver. Check the recent and significant judgement, the Bombay High Court has held that in case of an accident even if a pedestrian is negligent while crossing road, the driver of the vehicle is liable to pay the compensation to him or his family members.

Fraught with the fear and burden of being responsible for some strangers lives apart from the co-passengers whom I put under great duress. I drive only in the first or maximum second gear. Now this maybe civil in a crowded area which constitutes most parts of the city. It also makes me realise that pedestrians walk alongside my car and maybe move faster ahead.Maybe it is because they are carefree and even if they bump into strangers, at best they would apologise and move on. But if my car bumps into another car there will be an ugly spat,abuses will be hurled,etc. That's still a very acceptable situation god forbid if I slightly brush against a human I'd could even get beaten up,I would be asked to pay an unreasonable compensation even if it wasn't my fault and people were almost climbing on top of my car to get ahead.

One would reason that in crowded areas, narrow alleyways there are no pedestrian pathways. Why blame people when they are also subjected to risking their life and taking to the roads. All right, I cannot blame pedestrians here. Afterall I've been there not too long ago. Between the perennial construction work in Mumbai, hawkers and innumerable rickshawallas elbowing each other and other vehicles the poor pedestrian finds a place and squeezes himself/ herself to continue moving ahead.

But then what about wider roads, national highways, traffic signals etc. Do pedestrians follow the signals that have been made for their safety? Not always, many times even after the signal has turned green people continue to run like lunatics to cross the road.On national highways it is common to see people jumping from nowhere onto the highway to cross over. In a free country like ours, Jaywalking is not just restricted to humans. One could even encounter a herd of cows, a stray dog, maybe even an elephant who hogs the road ambling away at it's own pace(which is better than the elephant running amok anyways)...

So do we accept that Jaywalkers are here to stay or is this going to change? Well the good news is that there are awareness drives that the traffic cops have conducted one of them was outside CST where people who were crossing the road outside CST station, unmindful of traffic rules and were penalised for it. More such awareness drives need to be conducted across India, especially with the vehicular traffic growing faster than the infrastructure itself. I for one vouch for such a drive because until I took to the wheel I pretty much was clueless that such a word "Jaywalking" even existed. To make these drives successful there could be a PPP (Public Private Partnership) where the Traffic police jointly with auto companies create an awareness building campaign. This could be a great Branding initiative under the Corporate Social Responsibility angle. Are any Auto companies listening??
A few other things include signages which markout the vehicular traffic area from pedestrian walkways.Going forward one could also consider implementing a law that would compel people to follow the rules for their own safety and that of the vehicle driver.


Sources:http://www.zeenews.com/news566854.html
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/35-jaywalkers-end-up-in-fine-trouble-outside-CST/articleshow/4979622.cms