There was this really interesting question which was asked on one of our family get together some years back. Why i thought about this now is because i saw something that happened while driving yesterday which really ticked me off. But before i get to that , a slight off shot of what i think of the Traffic scene here.
I live in Madras, lovingly called the "armpit" of india. Its hot , its sultry, it stinks big time and its got dogs, yes dogs as in bow-bow. In fact its infested with dogs. Here is a conspiracy theory. The SPCA, the big pharmaceutical companies and the corporation authorities are involved. The big Pharma companies must have paid off these SPCA guys to make a big hue and cry to stop the corporation authorities from pounding and killing (killing is better) the stray dogs in the name of humanity( human beings don't receive that anymore). This in turn has manifested in an explosion of dog bite cases in hospitals which in turn will show up on the balance sheets of the pharma companies as rabies vaccine sales. That said i have noticed another thing, the average madrasi dogs have more road sense than the average madrasi. For the average madrasi, traffic sense and road sense are alien terms. Madras being a metro, has the advantage of 4 lane roads. The average madrasi (hereafter referred to as AM), has long forgotten the fact that we drive on the left of the road. AM drives on the right of the road and we are left to overtake smoke spewing Trucks and buses through the left, which needless to say, is one of the most thrilling adventures you can participate in on a daily basis. Jumping lanes, driving into one ways and jumping red lights are the norm here, not the exception. The average madrasi dog (hereafter referred to as AMD) is far more sensible when he crosses the road and never runs across the road. I am yet to see a dog crushed under a lorry or bus tyre here (this was a common site in kerala). So all you AM's take a page out of AMD's book.
Now for the issue which ticked me off. An AMD was standing on the side of the road doing what all AMD's do standing on the side of the road when some guys on the same side of the road , just for the peverted fun of it pelted the AMD with stones. The AMD for once ran across the road without looking and a bike rider banged onto the AMD and fell down from his bike sustaining heavy injuries to his head. The AMD escaped with slight injuries. The guys who pelted the stones were not seen after that. Who is to blame here, The guys who pelted the stones? The AMD? The bike driver? The Corporation? The SPCA? The pharmaceutical companies? The times we live in? WHO?
Anyway lets leave the AMD out of this for now.
I live in Madras, lovingly called the "armpit" of india. Its hot , its sultry, it stinks big time and its got dogs, yes dogs as in bow-bow. In fact its infested with dogs. Here is a conspiracy theory. The SPCA, the big pharmaceutical companies and the corporation authorities are involved. The big Pharma companies must have paid off these SPCA guys to make a big hue and cry to stop the corporation authorities from pounding and killing (killing is better) the stray dogs in the name of humanity( human beings don't receive that anymore). This in turn has manifested in an explosion of dog bite cases in hospitals which in turn will show up on the balance sheets of the pharma companies as rabies vaccine sales. That said i have noticed another thing, the average madrasi dogs have more road sense than the average madrasi. For the average madrasi, traffic sense and road sense are alien terms. Madras being a metro, has the advantage of 4 lane roads. The average madrasi (hereafter referred to as AM), has long forgotten the fact that we drive on the left of the road. AM drives on the right of the road and we are left to overtake smoke spewing Trucks and buses through the left, which needless to say, is one of the most thrilling adventures you can participate in on a daily basis. Jumping lanes, driving into one ways and jumping red lights are the norm here, not the exception. The average madrasi dog (hereafter referred to as AMD) is far more sensible when he crosses the road and never runs across the road. I am yet to see a dog crushed under a lorry or bus tyre here (this was a common site in kerala). So all you AM's take a page out of AMD's book.
Now for the issue which ticked me off. An AMD was standing on the side of the road doing what all AMD's do standing on the side of the road when some guys on the same side of the road , just for the peverted fun of it pelted the AMD with stones. The AMD for once ran across the road without looking and a bike rider banged onto the AMD and fell down from his bike sustaining heavy injuries to his head. The AMD escaped with slight injuries. The guys who pelted the stones were not seen after that. Who is to blame here, The guys who pelted the stones? The AMD? The bike driver? The Corporation? The SPCA? The pharmaceutical companies? The times we live in? WHO?
Anyway lets leave the AMD out of this for now.
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