Traffic…

I miss home. Period. I miss the traffic pile-up, the name calling and gesture making, the cops, the signals, the one-way roads, the no U-turns, the dug up sidewalks, the unpaved pavements, the smoke screens, the muddy roads, the blocked roads, the rain, the puddles, the man-holes, the pot-holes, the gunk and the goo and the marshes…ALL OF IT!! Along with the blaming of the unplanned infrastructure.
I had my faithful scooter of four and a half years delivered to me at my temporary new workplace, and on Saturday evening I took it out for a spin. To fuel it actually. I went around the city, garbed in my customary coat, and helmet and felt the horror of riding in this place! There’re no road discipline. Really. I swear! I used to complain about everything I mentioned above when I used to ride or drive back home, but here…it’s simply OUTRAGEOUS!! People go at breakneck speeds, large buses included, and there’s a ratio of 1:50 as far as helmet wearing is concerned with two wheel riders – 50 being the number of people who seem to be ignorant of the effectiveness of helmets. I believe they think helmets don’t exist! I guess it would be alright not to wear a helmet, if…and I stress IF the humble citizens who traverse the city roads actually at least acknowledged the existence of ‘road/traffic discipline’. No, it doesn’t really exist at home either, but this is twenty times worse! People drive their SUV’s on the wrong side of the road, no one uses the indicators of their vehicles, bike-riders swish from side to side at their own will and everybody, ABSOLUTELY everybody has forgotten the purpose of rear-view mirrors and horns!! No one wears seat belts, or helmets, or even adheres to the very basic of traffic rules!! It’s insane!! The traffic is two fold lesser than what I used to face on a daily basis at home, BUT people at least has road sense there!! Jesus!! And NO it is not at ALL funny! Even if I had a car here I wouldn’t want to drive on these roads, trust me! It’s a nightmare!! My city is paradise with no comparison!! I love my home town. The sights and sounds. The very feel of it…it was home…and I MISS IT!!
My consolation being, I will be home next week for a whole week!! And I get hourly updates from those wonderful souls back there…I don’t get homesick or anything, but it’s just that void somewhere that gets filled every time I read or hear about home.
Oooh, Dad’s gonna be here in two weeks time…
Spending my weekends writing and watching re-runs of the BBC book adaptations…most of my favorite literary works. Rather delightful, my life.
Must start checking application statuses. Mein Gott, I miss home!