Caught in the Traffic

A DIFFERENT LESSON: A motorist who jumped the signal reading the pamphlet on traffic rules at Pattom junction in the city on Friday.

I guess the image says it all.........

For those dumbo's who haven't figured out what this picture is doing in my blog, here goes. The guy wearing check shirt and having the paper in the hand is ME. I had been reminded about this picture, which came in The Hindu a few years ago, when i was caught for the same crime that landed me on the 3rd page of The Hindu and made me a celebrity in my batch @ college.

The Crime : Jumping RED signal @ rush hour in the busy Pattom Junction..

The Criminal(i guess there's no harm in this usage) : your's truly

The Punishment: No fine's, no reprimands, but being made to read a checklist of precautions that one must go through while riding in RUSH hour! This was followed by the CI showing me a few photos of accident victims, i couldn't make out the faces and in some the face was so mutilated that i felt like i would puke there itself.

Seeing this the CI had a wicked laugh(the kind that we see in mythology serials and old films). He made me swear that i will NEVER jump the lights in future. If he had his way i would have spent a day in the Sub-Jail @ Attakulangara and would have been a full fledged GOONDA by now, rather than what i am now(now don't say ther's no difference).

The incident occured when i was in s4, i still remember being called at 6 AM the next day by Simon and his words were not that good to hear, especially when i am trying to catch some sleep. "Aliya ninte padom Hindu 3rd pagil adichu vannirikunnu". Next to call was Aparna who made it a point to 1st inform my mom about the INCIDENT. By the time i came downstairs to get my hands on the paper, it was already being read ALOUD by my sister. I thought that was the end of it. But no, god has a funny way of playing games on me.

When i reached college, the story's cutout was PASTED on the classroom's walls by my very good friends and even teacher's came to know about the INCIDENT (although my FRIENDS had another story and a different caption for the picture). Anyways this incident opened my eyes to the dangers of driving. The pictures that i had seen in the album of the CI are still fresh in my mind. They are the kind that would be censored in any violent movie, mainly coz most of them lacked what made up a face. Some had just gash's in place of eyes, while some were so bloody that it was hard to make out how the person might have looked. To know that such things happen due to the adrenalin rush in most cases is a sad thing. Why risk it, when we can save our life by being slow??

But then all this philosophy goes out of the loop once i get on my bike. The rush of air against my face when going at 80-90kmph is something that can only be felt. To know why guys get killed by speeding, try riding the bike at those speeds.

Believe me you would never feel like slowing down!

PS: For the detailed story on my Traffic Escapade go to: http://www.hindu.com/2005/06/25/stories/2005062516730300.htm