While UBERing inside the city today I saw Auto - cracy in Bhubaneswar. The three wheeled motorized rickswaw is everywhere and can come from nowhere and dangerously barge in from narrow lanes to main road without yielding to the incoming traffic. They can suddenly overtake and stop right in front of you to any extended hand indicating it to stop. The Autoricksaws want to outsmart and out run each other in the rat race of catching the next BHADAA, the Odia term for rental passengers.
Bhubaneswar made me conclude that no one breaks any traffic rule in the capital city - they make their own. In IT parlance, we use the term Deadlock to describe a situation when two processes try to access the same resource at the same time. In such a scenario, one waits for the other to complete its task until its turn arrives. Similarly we get a Deadlock situation at road intersections when two drivers are stuck, hoping for the other one to go first like "Lucknow KI DO NAWABON KI GAADI PEHLE AAP PEHLE AAP..." - as two vehicles carrying Royals of Lucknow, a place known for etiquette request each other to go first.
In Bhubaneswar, it is other way round. Everyone wants to go first at the other's expense. Letting the other go first would be considered too benevolent, outright stupidity - a pipe dream. If I ever get behind the wheels here, either I will hit someone or someone will hit me within a mile of my driving.
It turned out to be a hectic day for me. Met my school friends over breakfast and did lunch with my Engineering College friends. As my vehicle stopped at a traffic light near Ravindra Mandap, I saw the faces on bikes, inside the cars and autos suddenly turn in unison in the direction of a tall, lanky girl in dark glasses with a red scarf tied to her neck, standing below a tree at the corner of a crossroad. She was probably on a photo shoot as couple of guys were frantically clicking pictures of her from different angles using long snouted cameras protruding on tripods. It didn't go unnoticed to me that the most lascivious oglings wasn't from the youngsters around, rather from many gray haired and baldies no less than 60 years old gaping at her with eyes and mouth wide open.
There are huge billboards at all major intersections of the city announcing the World Cup Hockey tournament to be held couple of months from now, side by side with the ostentatious face of the Chief Minister of the state smiling at the passersbys. Can't recollect any international sporting event used for political promotion since 1936 Berlin Olympics which was used to promote Hitler and his Nazi ideology.
Bhubaneswar made me conclude that no one breaks any traffic rule in the capital city - they make their own. In IT parlance, we use the term Deadlock to describe a situation when two processes try to access the same resource at the same time. In such a scenario, one waits for the other to complete its task until its turn arrives. Similarly we get a Deadlock situation at road intersections when two drivers are stuck, hoping for the other one to go first like "Lucknow KI DO NAWABON KI GAADI PEHLE AAP PEHLE AAP..." - as two vehicles carrying Royals of Lucknow, a place known for etiquette request each other to go first.
In Bhubaneswar, it is other way round. Everyone wants to go first at the other's expense. Letting the other go first would be considered too benevolent, outright stupidity - a pipe dream. If I ever get behind the wheels here, either I will hit someone or someone will hit me within a mile of my driving.
It turned out to be a hectic day for me. Met my school friends over breakfast and did lunch with my Engineering College friends. As my vehicle stopped at a traffic light near Ravindra Mandap, I saw the faces on bikes, inside the cars and autos suddenly turn in unison in the direction of a tall, lanky girl in dark glasses with a red scarf tied to her neck, standing below a tree at the corner of a crossroad. She was probably on a photo shoot as couple of guys were frantically clicking pictures of her from different angles using long snouted cameras protruding on tripods. It didn't go unnoticed to me that the most lascivious oglings wasn't from the youngsters around, rather from many gray haired and baldies no less than 60 years old gaping at her with eyes and mouth wide open.
There are huge billboards at all major intersections of the city announcing the World Cup Hockey tournament to be held couple of months from now, side by side with the ostentatious face of the Chief Minister of the state smiling at the passersbys. Can't recollect any international sporting event used for political promotion since 1936 Berlin Olympics which was used to promote Hitler and his Nazi ideology.
The city planners are leaving no stones unturned to make this event a success. Part of the plan is to sterilize 1500 stray dogs ahead of it as they could be a major eyesore and nuisance when the state capital will be under international limelight this winter.
Yet capturing and neutering thousands of stray dogs is an Herculean task given the limited time and resource available with the authorities. The pariah mongrel menace is endemic in the city which reports on an average 36 dog bites per day - not to mention innumerable vehicle accidents caused by them. This is the most humane way of tackling the stray canine population, thanks to the event it could turn into a blessing in disguise the city-gens ameliorating the stray dog menace. More later....
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