My middle article is on the Editorial page of the Tribune today.

 An Ode to the Indian Roads

The government has been taking active steps to make traffic law enforcement more stringent to discipline unruly Indian drivers and make them ‘fall in lane’. From cameras on key stretches to speed radars and even speed alerts inside newer vehicles, the Indian driver has been put on notice. Now, as you know, highways are to modern India what the Indus River was to our Harappan-age ancestors; so, this has obviously come as a big blow to our civilization.

Of course, the efforts by the authorities to enforce more stringent controls on and around our country’s road network are quite laudable – or so I thought until my son returned one Sunday, rather annoyed and upset. Upon enquiring as to the reason, I learnt that he had just been ‘fined’ by the traffic police for speeding on a stretch of road close to our residence, in New Delhi. Speeding, he told me, meant going over the specified speed limit for that stretch of road, which – as the traffic cop had informed him – had been set at 50 kilometres per hour. Fifty, he repeated: a speed that even ‘autos’ found difficult to keep under when in their highest gear. “You see, Dad,” he exclaimed, “the Indian system is brilliant: first they lay down laws that no reasonable person can ever conform to, and then they negotiate the penalty with you for ‘mutual benefit’.” Furthermore, he explained, the cops had neatly chosen to surveil the only stretch of road where a motorist could possibly cruise above 50 kilometers per hour, in the first place, and elected to do this on a Sunday, when traffic was sparse and motorists could actually enjoy their rides in the otherwise busy city roads.

The following day, my son and I were travelling together in the car when, while waiting for the traffic light to turn green, a couple of cows wandered idly across the intersection, ignoring the ‘stop’ signal, before making themselves comfortable in the middle of the busy road junction. As soon as the signal turned green, there was a mad rush forward, as vehicles scrambled to nose ahead to lay claim to every inch of free road. There was a screeching sound and then a ‘thud’ as a motorbike slammed into the divine bovines, making complete minced-meat of the rider. Luckily, he was not hurt, as evidenced by the bored looks on the traffic police personnel standing nearby. As the rider dusted himself off, cursed his luck and picked up his mangled motorbike, I couldn’t help but wonder if the Indian driver deserved a respite from the roadblocks that he faced at every twist and turn of the nation’s roads!