'Sadak' passing through Road

Memories go back to May 2006 when we had gone with 'Pushpak', our all terrain vehicle, to Portland, OR, we were told that people only with US or International license can drive on road, competition although was an exception.

Perhaps US road authorities believe that their driving standards are much tougher than that of countries like India. They might be true, but they must value and give credit to people who drive successfully on "Sadak" passing through Indian roads. Yeah !

I live in a small town of Orissa. I often wonder why the traffica-wala's keep looking for heads without helmet in such slow paced road. Few incidences of past made me trust their sanity. If you have helmet over your head, its quite possible that  when u meet an accident, due to fake ISI mark on the helmet you may end up with a broken head but you can be sure about its other multiple auxiliary uses. Some of them I will illustrate to refresh your mind! 

It can save you from red marks not of blood but of pan, chewed and spit all over by the driver and passengers going in a local baas (bus). It might not save you from hit of the bus but it definitely saves your ear from the noise (mind u, in these buses except horn every other part makes pretty good rhythm ). It will for sure save you from getting your face "dark and lovely' by the dust and smoke from the passing by truck whose PUC check might be as old as its date of birth.

Well Indian roads particularly in small towns are not just about helmets. There are other USP"s as well. You thought we pay road tax and thereby get a legal authority to drive. Wait!! you are under wrong impression. You will be surprised to know that biggest owners of the road are stray cattle who have an all empowering right to sit anywhere and anytime on the road. You think Indian Government authorities are lazy. No!! They have a highly technical vision. These cattle on the road are actually mobile speed breakers. Fixed speed breakers allow drivers to speed up in a planned way and therefore are prone to more accidents, but with mobile speed breakers you will be surprised at movement of every inch. As someone rightly shared sometime back on facebook that its much like farmville game, you never know from which side cow, goat and dog will enter.  let me quote a beautiful learning on how to drive successfully with these mobile speed breakers. One of my colleague shared. "Dekho jab gai ya bakri road cross kar rahi ho tab unke peeche se gadi le jao, woh kabhi wapas nahin mudte, par agar kutta road cross kar raha ho to uske aage se gaadi le jao , woh jaroor peeche mudega", and this indeed works (test at your own risk) !! Authorities in US:- Do you test your license takers for this !!!, I am sure no.

Now coming to the subject of the post "Sadak" passing through road. Needless to say, we in India, particularly in small towns never get 'potholes' on road. Surprised, yeah, we get road on potholes. Before you start cribbing about authorities associated with road construction, let me candidly admit that they have done this for better health of the citizens of the town. Afterall we have demo(no)cracy in India. (woh alag baat hai ki hamare Prime Minister and Home Minister democratic election me nahin khade ho paye/jeet paye)  Well, you seem to be naive, so here is the hidden  good intention of the authorities "People these days are prone to obesity because they don't do morning exercises, but once they step out of their house in a two wheeler, roads make sure that atleast 90% of the time you are not on the seat but in air striving to control the handle and ensuring that your bike is not stuck in some pothole sorry "sadak" and while you do  this juggling all your body parts get necessary stretch and strain, sometimes beyond tensile limits, jiske liye hamen khed hai!! I remember during our induction period in GM, we were shared that every new vehicle before launch is put on something called "torture track" . Now I realize and feel like recommending my bosses in GM not waste money on preservation of the "torture track", Indian Government has already put enough efforts to ensure that roads in small towns resemble them.

Still if authorities in US and other developed countries feel that they have better driving standards, I think they must send a delegation to any small town of India to redefine their standards on how "Sadak" passes through Road!!