milkshake

(pic courtesy Varun N's cell, thanks man, now u kno why i grabbed ur cell in the middle of the road :D)

This sight sends chills down the hawker's spine. This imposing grey-as-death monster can snatch your living away in a matter of moments. Entire careers, livelihoods, and bread have been lost whole to this boogeyman. Behold, the BMC grand-confiscator! The sight of this beast even from 300 m away can set into motion reactions that scream 'helter-skelter, mass chaos, and code red alert!'. And what follows is the sight of more than 50-60 hawkers packing up their merchandise as quickly as they can and hiding it from sight. A few minutes later, the patroller moves on, and after a quick check of its disappearance, life resumes.

After plying people all day and night, early dawn seems to be the only time this rickshaw driver gets to catch up on sleep, after catching directions, swear words, and the occasional traffic cop the day before. The sun shining on his face reminds him of the above loop he has to survive all over again. But, for now, dreams of bollywood heroines will work just fine.

The most common use of hands (in public places atleast) by the Indian male. This self-degrading and mouth-cancer receiving act has been perceived as 'cool' by the junta that loves to spit red at signal intersections, any exposed wall, and pretty much any public location that doesnt have a tile of a god on it. Bus drivers spit red out of their door windows. And proof of this is evident 15 feet on the road from any bus stop.

Grr... thoo!* on these miserable fools.

random precision

BEST should offer new services to their passengers: replace some of the seats with recliners or even better, foldable beds. With the recent hike in fares, its the least they can offer. As it is the traffic conditions of today translate to buses (along with anything else with wheels) staying stationary much longer than moving. All this time spent staying still can be effectively used by passengers by catching up on lost sleep. Seeing as today's bus drivers sport bluetooth headsets, surely BEST is doing something right. It's time to show their gratitude to us laymen.

The 11th floor view of serpentine lines of vehicles on roads and flyovers is gratifying indeed. Watching hundreds of stressed school, college, and office-going stooges cramped together surrounded by heat-retaining concrete whilst sitting on a window facing chair in an air-conditioned room watching the sunlight bounce off the window at 10 a.m. Evil bliss!

The eternal metro, flyover, sky-walk construction and pothole filling activities have left us all incapacitated for the time being. A few others, like the mongrel below, seem thankful for such events, courtesy the cooling modern 'lair' provided.

hell-met

With the Mumbai roads, everything has to happen at the same time. The Metro construction, skywalk constructions, detours during heavy rains, and incessant honking by bikers and car drivers who think sound waves help facilitate smooth traffic movement. Travelling to work is a saga every single day, with sufficient new stories and scripts observed daily to empower 3 television series.

The purpose of skywalks is to eliminate pedestrians from the roads, considering 'footpaths' technically don't exist anymore. They're encroached by shops, tapris, and now, serve as an alternate route for 2-wheelers. Yet, skywalks aren't used by the walking citizens, who choose to run aimless cutting through traffic, contributing to the pandemonium. Subways don't fare better either, but atleast they aren't obstacles themselves.

With improved spending power of the working class, the number of vehicles on the roads has been on an upward trend and will continue to be. Although flyovers have eased the pain along the arterial roads, the scene in the inroads and other lesser important roads is terrible. And if you're a motorist who happens to be on one such road and you encounter a BEST bus here, you might as well cancel all imminent appointments and plug your ipod on to set the numbness in.