Diwali bumper (to bumper)

So it is time of the year again when most Indians in India or outside would have celebrated the festival of lights with much gusto. Not different with me too, had a nice time first preparing for the festival and then savouring the time ( & goodies) spent with close family members.

I had a interesting drive (or atleast I believe I was driving) one day before the festival began. A distance of an hour from my home took close to 2.5 hours and needless to say it had it's own funny as well as frustrating moments ; with minimal movements. The first 20 minutes went like a breeze where I was cruising at almost 100 kmph on the highway and then suddenly like life stops moving for some time; I was stuck for almost half an hour on a flyover. Forget flying, one could not even walk with the number of vehicles occupying every space.

Being a lady driver in India is an interesting experience. Every passing vehicle with a male driver will swear by a lady driver in front. The jam on the fly over was no different with people behind me probably accelerating their prayers if not the car accelerator, hoping I dont slide backwards being on an upward slope. Much to their relief and much to the disappointment of the men drivers on my either side (who were ready with advice) I passed this test with flying colours!

Next turn, bigger cacophony but on straight road. It never moved for eons. Finally a small indication to move and my phone beeps. My niece on a SOS call as one of their Diwali sweet is not turning out as expected! I was imagining my obituary coming the next day "In deep remembrance of the lady who died in a car accident while giving a recipe on cell phone while driving!" Thankfully this too is dealt with thanks to the loudspeaker & slow moving traffic.

Finally all clear and I am zooming ahead when I hear the FM jockey announcing numbers for a Tambola game and if my phone number had any of the 2 numbers, I could win a set of diamond ear-rings! I could not believe myself when I went alongside and parked for a moment to message the radio guys. My happiness was short lived when a police guy came knocking saying I was not allowed to park there. Damn! There I just missed hearing the phone number again.

At last I reached the Diwali Mela for which I was more than 2 hours late, the ever re-assuring presence of my hubby was enough to put the ordeal behind me as soon as I saw him! All in all a great experience in balancing the wheel & forgetting the troublesome traffic on reaching the destination. I hope it is the same for all aspects of life; the destination be worth every pain!

Comments

Utkarsha Kotian said…
:D
SOS call worked in the end na!
Shankarpali mast bana!! :D

And this is not encouraging for me!!
I want to learn driving!! :P
Unknown said…
hey..All your work is superb..your blog is actually humouros and adventourous..You rock Sucha, as always:)
Garima said…
hey..I liked the hidden satire in the write-up;"Bumper-to Bumper","obituary","SOS call" :)
Very true, we are a nightmare lead for a male driver in traffic.More of female drivers like you and we can break the ice.

Nice write up, enjoyed reading it!
Tc.
Phoenix said…
yes the journey is worth .. when u reach ur destination.. as long as one learns to enjoy every experience and leave the sour ones behind.. as the ad says .. keep walking
Good account.Happy diwali and keep happy and safe driving.
Subha Mohapatra said…
The article possesses a refreshing narrative technique. It is not crammed with supernumerary characters, adventitious events or digressive details....and holds the attention and interest of the reader by its rich analysis of mental adjustments and the psychological antecedents of simple actions and events. The humor and adventure are added spices :)
Unknown said…
:) When I was reading this post I felt like sitting next to you in your car and enjoying mumbai traffic. Had I been with you in your car, I would have probably helped you winning those Diamond ear rings. ;)

More or less Chennai is becoming like mumbai these days. God!!! please give us some good roads to drive. I Love Driving but hate Traffic.

Take care. Looking forward for another blog.

Thanks,
Sathish
Chennai
CRD said…
As they say in Urdu, "Deyr aaye, durust aaye" :)

Cheers
CRD
Sucha said…
Thanks for the various views on this one!
Tulika Verma said…
Refreshing and humorous. You are so right about people swearing by a lady driver. :)

Keep penning...
Cheers! :)
Rajan G. said…
Loved reading that Sucha. I could visualize everything you were saying, including the SOS call from the "Shah" sisters :-).
My MIL and FIL wanted to go from Raheja Vihar to Hiranandani last week, a distance of 5 minutes driving. Took them 55 minutes. On their way back after an hour, a policeman had covered a traffic light on the way with a piece of cloth. This was apparently causing the jam; they reached back in 5 minutes. In which other city will turning off traffic lights speed up traffic? Mumbai traffic ki jai ho!

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