February 08, 2008

Its not road rage

I have become mean. It’s a shocking revelation for me, for I have always believed in being good to others. Okay, to most people.

Does this happen with you too? With time, as you cross various milestones in life, you forget what you have left behind. Okay, let’s get to the point. For example, I often find myself fretting about pedestrians and rickshwallas on the road. I wonder why they can’t just be on a side and let the cars go by. Why can’t people see the car coming…it almost seems like they appear in front of you from nowhere! Why can’t the rickshawalla be faster? Doesn’t he realize people have to reach their office on time?

Very often when a man comes in front of me and I have to apply the brakes, I can’t help but say “Can’t you see?” I am not getting into whose fault it is.

The point is, I have started driving only recently. Till almost a year back, I too was often a pedestrian, or a rickshaw passenger. Then, my reactions were different. I would wonder why people can’t drive sanely. Do they think the road belongs to them? What about us pedestrians? Don’t they care about lives? Once a car had even hit my rickshaw and I had fallen on the ground, not before cursing the driver wholeheartedly.

So why have I become mean now? I keep asking myself that almost everyday.