The joys of work, running to office first thing in the morning, dealing with Delhi's absolutely insane traffic. When that Lutyen's chap made Delhi he plonked lots of rounabouts all over the place. Now, roundabouts work on one simple principle - courtesy, and as all Delhi-ites know there is none of that in this city. So dealing with say the Windsor Place roundabout, or better still the Gol Dakhana one are like trying to play a very complicated racing game on a PS2. The only thing being that this is real. Banging into a motorcycle or pedestrian means trouble. And the Europeans think that the traffic in Rome and Naples is madcap, well people just visit Delhi. The city where the traffic is the centrepiece of the chaos, I mean its so bad you can see it from the air.
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
You don't want the enmity of my friendship!
Followers
Recent Comments
Blog Archive
About Me
- K
- You don't want to know. No really. You don't. If you still want to know, send any queries, gossip or whatever to presstalk (at) gmail (dot) com
3 comments:
This is some luck,
not only do i find a journalist on this site but hes from india & he hates delhi traffic almost as much as me.
I totally agree with you on this towns traffic sense & courtesy(the lack thereof). the biggest irony though is that delhi is one of the greenest metros anywhere but at the same time is one of the most polluted - though that has improved slightly.
Theres one line that stuck with me, if you can drive in delhi without kiling yourself, you can drive anywhere in the world in any state of mind. After what little travel Ive had, i think this is absolutely true.
Im an aspiring writer from delhi myself, you can check out my blog on this site if youre interested.
Cheers to gruntled & disgruntled alike.
Akshay
Oye Mundu/ Naren
this is the first two paras of a book im thinking of writing. The style isnt original (Dan McGirt and Terry Prattchet are well-known in this genre) but the story is...
Prologue: Armageddon
Kieran looked up. The storm that had been building up over the far horizon was now much nearer and decidedly a lot more violent than he had bargained for. Lightening zigged and then zagged through the gloom and he could make out tiny scurrying figures far below, hurrying to get out of the rain.
His perch high above Khand’um’s tallest clock tower was not exactly as comfortable as he would have hoped but it would have to do for now.
The rain began. Slowly at first but with increasing intensity till the drops were liquid boulders. Kieran shook his massive shoulders and unfurled his gigantic wings, shaking pearls from his feathers before tucking them away under his sable cloak. Twelve feet from tip to tip and black as the other side of midnight, Kieran’s wings were the most obvious symbols of his authority. The race of Anduluza – the birdmen, dominated the Fifteen (and a half) Kingdoms*—or what was left of it. Their slaves were the lowly homo sapiens—menial servants fit for nothing except agriculture and occasional amusement. Not tonight.
Kieran rubbed his hands together. Not so much out of discomfort than out of anticipation of the events to follow. He was going to die before dawn would break. It had been foretold; and even though he held the tales of the soothsayers in regal disdain, he could not ignore the prickly feeling that ran down the base of his neck, settling in his spine.
Kieran stood slowly and removed his cape, laying it on the parapet below him. It was time. Time to hunt the men, nay the slaves, who had dared scheme against him. He unfurled his great black wings slowly, flexing his immense muscles. With a snap, he soared away into the clouds, high above the city, hunting…hunting for prey.
* The half kingdom was really the unruly princedom of Bahir that saw way too many succession battles for its own good. The old king had died leaving an only daughter. Bahiri succession laws being as they were, women were not allowed to rule. Princess Barbi was now on the threshold of senior citizen ship and her multitude of offsprings fought tooth and nail for what was the lamest excuse for a country.
Thats cool, i think that everyones entitled to their own opinion. Tell u what, ill answer ur mail step by step.
First, yes traffic does move a lot faster in delhi then even cities like bombay where its supposed to be more "organised". however the people here still drive like shit & are inconsiderate & mean when on the road, many are actually nice when not driving.
Next, before u call me a cynic, i need to make it clear that im not. I just believe that we should look at the bad in order to more clearly see the good & that all my observations are as an outsider, not coloured by personal taste - that would become obscene on certain topics. This is just an observation but snce you said that weve progressed in the past 200 years & grown & innovated, well so do diseases & viruses. now im not saying were a plague but look at the hindustan time on the last page today & see what we`re doing. Believe me, im not a religious person - i dont believe in religion & barely in god - as a result my faith depends on people so believe that i have more faith in the in the human spirit then most. Thats actually why i write like i do- i believe that if theyre told these things they can learn.
Lastly, like i said, my faith is in people & i like to look at all ends of it. If i look at the stygian end of society, i also imagine certain utopian concepts. When i say all men are born equal i dont mena in the little shitty things that we all hold so dear but if it comes down to it, a man is still just a man, wherever or whoever he is.
But anyway, like my blog says its meant for open minded exchanges between people so each one is entitled to his own opinion. Its nice meeting u(sort of) & chatting bout this. U could tell me ur email cos chattin over the comment box is odd. All the same,
Cheers,
Akshay
Post a Comment