THAT MONDAY MORNING…..

19/09/2011

A busy chaotic Monday morning it was. With the usual “Monday morning sickness” I got up late and geared up to college. Adhering to the Anna University college rules, I usually make it a point to be in time to college…that is around 8.30. That fine morning it so happened that I started from my home at CIT Nagar only around 8.20 from the usual 8.00(it is a fifteen minute drive to college from my place). As any other middle class college go’ er , I use my two wheeler(the not-so-cool , old fashioned SCOOTY ES) to get to college. I wore the headset attached to my mobile phone; tuned into some nice movie songs of the 90’s and started off. The drive was like any other day; till I reached LITTLE MOUNT (located mid way between my place and college) at around 8.25.  There was a huge array of cars in the middle with buses and trucks and the motorcycles in the corners, parked, in the six lane busy road leading to the Raj Bhavan.  There was a huge traffic jam…..!With three of my classmates stuck in this jam as well, at once I pulled out my mobile and started texting my classmates in class informing our late arrival. Scorching sun coupled with high humidity levels of the day made me get pooped up and I parked my vehicle jammed between a bus and a truck then moved with my friends to a shady place. All around us we saw people grumbling about the jam at the “peak hour”, bus drivers who were in a fix, University students getting down from the Government buses and walking their way to college, also an auto driver who willingly gossiped to me about the reasons for the trafficking(obviously he got the reasons wrong!). I even saw people standing upon a walk over bridge across the road and taking pictures in their mobile phones. Later only did I come to know that it was that walk over bridge that was causing the whole havoc. My friend showed me the pictures of people sitting across the road parallel to the bridge, with their children protesting for the want of traffic personnel to control the speeding vehicles in that road. The walk over bridge was of less use to the aged and the school kids who felt difficult to climb up the stairs and cross the road. Their allegation was to properly install the traffic signals near the zebra crossing which was the only easy way for the pedestrians. The people residing in the neighbouring slum area placed on record the number of deaths of their fellowmen due to the rash vehicles passing by that road. But they ought to seriously give a thought to all those stranded vehicles and the Taluk Office road being a one-way traffic, the impact of the rebellion was felt at the neighbouring areas of Adayar, Nandanam, Guindy and Koturpuram as well. Finally the officials and the policemen reached the spot, tried to control the irate mob and finally the traffic cleared after an hour. In one way I support the people but in another way I really don’t! The people fought for their needs and wants owing to their preferences and safety….but they have various other means by which they could have done instead of disrupting the traffic at the vital hour. They have also, in a way, kindled the rebellious nature into their children who imbibe only these qualities. We as Chennaiites must think of all these issues and find some better means by which these can be solved rather than meddling with other’s lives and livelihoods.