Driving around the city is an experience that calls for a study. Compared to the satellite towns of NCR that I’ve driven in, Delhi is still much better. I remember driving in Ghaziabad once and while I was there I wasn’t able to comprehend who was crazier...me, for following my driving rules, or the local bunch for being practioners of the chaos theory! It was a freaky road with a bullock cart, bicycles, a Mercedes Benz, a handful of MUVs and a rickety bunch of tempos and buses, all driving and shouting and honking on that two lane road!
What today I want to write on is completely different. It’s about that momentary bond you forge with your fellow drivers while the engine is idling at yet another red light. Someone will be fixing their hair, someone their fag, another will look like boredom were his middle name and another like the wait will kill her. Those with family or co-passengers aren’t making it here because they have a world moving with them on wheels, all I am talking of, are the ones who’re driving alone. At each halt in a traffic crossing and/or a jam, I look around at people. I look at people to figure out what’s driving them and to where. Often a pretty face may catch my eye or a sharp glint of arrogance and challenge in the eye of the guy who I’m standing ahead of; a lecherous look of open interest in my affairs or one of horrified amusement when they catch me singing with the radio!
Oh I do all this when I drive to and from important places and exams because only that’s when I get the car all to myself. Driving alone can be distracting...it requires too much focus for me to do so in absolute silence. That’s where my music comes in! I switch radio channels, I play music from my iPod or I just sing to myself, but I sing. It gives the whole journey a rhythm, a beat, a life! I sing, I groove, I head bang...I basically imagine I’m in NFS and this is my background score!
Talking of rear view mirrors and co-drivers, the instant connection is quite a mood uplifting instrument. Checking the line of cars in the mirror, invariable I zero in on one car and that becomes my partner for the way. It’s like picking a friend who one drives along with and keeps up with! It pushes you if you fall far behind, urges you to slow down if they fall far behind. It’s something I do, I don’t know if people in general do this. I also mentioned a challenge above...that usually happens with jerks of guys who believe a female driver better, faster and ahead of them is a blob on their virility. So they rev up their cars, scowl at you or make explicit expressions, do their best to overtake you and feel some form of exhilaration when they do! More often than not, I let them be. Childish antics don’t require attention, but on days that I’m on the edge myself, they are up for a challenge I’m not willing to lose!
So this post is dedicated to all the “friends” I made in my rear view mirror and all those I’ll make!
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