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Snarls and sales pitches

Traffic snarls have become part of our everyday routine. NANDHINI SUNDARsuggests some creative ways to sail through them with sanity and good humour intact

Quiet streets dotted with rows and rows of trees, picturesque bungalows from a different time frame, a few broad roads marked with slim lines of traffic, the city sporting a laidback air, and its denizens never in a tearing hurry to get anywhere. Yeah, yeah, you've heard it all before: namma Bengalooru's previous avatar.

Cut to the present. Unless you leave home at seven and come back at ten, chances are you're crawling on all four wheels to and from work and there's nothing you can do about it. Yes, the stressed-out Bangalorean has to contend with traffic snarls each time s/he chooses to venture out. After all, the city no more ends within a 10-km radius.

Bad roads, potholed structures, traffic jams, two- and three-wheelers swarming around like frenetic wasps — trying to find the tiniest gap to squeeze through. And those l-o-n-g waits when traffic comes to a standstill, either at signals or bottlenecks.

Caught in this traffic chaos with no hope of reprieve, how do hapless Bangaloreans cope?

More specifically, what do they do when caught in these inevitable and interminable traffic snarls? Do they take a power nap in between these halts? Make those pending calls on their cellphones? Turn to comfort food or a sinful snack to lend them the faith and energy to sail through such stress? Or boil slowly but steady and curse their fate and those around to let off steam?

Caught in one of these ubiquitous traffic jams when I once noticed a well-manicured hand waving out of the window at regular intervals. I wondered if the lady in question was signalling something, only to realise later that the nails on that well cared for limb were getting another coat of polish and a bit of sunlight for quick drying.

More recently, I bumped into an old friend only to notice a significant bump in the front of her car. Did she have an accident? I enquired, concerned. She assured me it was quite the contrary. She had apparently been taking one of her forty winks that she invariably took when caught in those perennial jams. Having slipped into deep sleep, she had started her car as a reflex action when the person at her rear honked unnecessarily, only to bump into the vehicle in front.

Not wanting to let go when opportunity knocks are a few enterprising souls who have made these junctions and signals their sales points. Anything from sunglasses to newspapers and periodicals to tissues to handicrafts are sold here. A short time ago, on one of these junctions, a man approached me with the proposition to sell the latest laptops at throwaway prices!

Tempers run high with each trying to overtake the other to beat the signal that appears to be more positioned in red than green. And when that happens there definitely exists an excellent school for colourful language, rapidly initiating those so far uninitiated.

Yet, for a few others, with a positive bent of mind, this appears to be an exercise in patience and time to catch up on their reading or isometric exercises, all attempt to convert an unproductive experience into a productive one.

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