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Thursday 1 May 2014

Indian traffic through the eyes of a hawk



"I was once soaring majestically in the sky. I had no fear, no boundaries, just an endless colour blue that stretched before me. I got tired searching for my prey and decided to rest on a building. That was my misfortune, for the building was so misshapen, that I wondered if it is was a building under construction or one that had just been left there forgotten by everyone. But from that building what I saw changed me forever."
"I saw a car entering a road that was No-Entry. Even I know what a No-Entry sign is...why can't a human?" At this point the hawk grows despondent and a tear rolls down its face. "And they call us bird-brained?! Where's the justice in that??!"
A woman in a beautiful grey sari startles the hawk next. "Here she was sauntering on the streets like it belonged to her...and suddenly... she darts down the road and starts climbing a divider. Stuck mid-way she thrusts herself into the bars of the divider and does an impressive somersault to the other side. Luckily the sari never tore, but I could see more of the lady than anybody ever cared for." The hawk's face lightens at the thought. He decides to share the intimate view of the woman later with his hawk-buddies.
But he was sure his father wouldn't approve. "What can I do if I have the eyes of a hawk? Can I close them and stop them from seeing what they want to see? Or is it a sin that I used my gift to good advantage?" The deep philosophies of life trouble the hawk and he decides to look for more interesting things happening on the street.
The next thing he sees defies any form of logic. It's called an Indian traffic jam. "Cars can't turn because there are vehicles coming from the other side. From the other side, nothing can move because people want to cross at that exact same time. The police can't do anything because if he does he will end up somewhere up there where even I don't know what happens. The only person who can do anything is me. But why should I swoop down and help those people, when they don't it acknowledge my presence." The angry hawk clicks his beaks ferociously and yelps a loud screech. A boy who is walking below the building points up to his father and says, "Look there's a bird sitting up there!".
The father doesn't bother to look up, but drags the boy into a one-way street from where cars and bikes are rolling out ferociously in the direction they are not supposed to. "Come fast, there's no time for bird-watching, we need to get out before the jam hits the other side."
The hawk on hearing this, swoops down and takes advantage of another gift he possesses. He shits. On the man, on his car and on the whole traffic jam.
Satisfied he returns to his roost braver and deeper in his resolution that he can make it out of any situation in life. But out of an Indian traffic jam? Well he has his own doubts about that one!
"Kudos to those who brave traffic jams, and special kudos to those who make it alive out of an Indian one!" the hawk screams. He is happy with his statement because he knows even his father would agree with him on that one.