Red Lights (traffic signals) have dynamics of their own. There are business opportunities for some (books/flowers/used tyres/sun-shades/ chargers/toys/dusters), Zero-investment-high-return equations for few others (beggars/eunuchs/ oldies selling fishy looking aggarbatties, knowing well that no one will buy that stuff and most of us would rather give them some money), some questionable bargaining opportunities for many (cheaper toys/pirated books/stolen tyres/ flowers from who knows where!)and time to catch up for yet others (a quick call/call-back, a glance on the SMS/mail or simple fiddling with the FM). All this is 'almost' legal stuff.
Then comes the illegal part. Tendency to stop after crossing the 'Stop Line', honking even before the lights turn green and even jumping the red signal with a 'smart eye' on the traffic flow, waiting in the left-most lane but swinging sharply to the right as the lights turn green and, thus, obstructing the traffic, blocking the free turn lanes and taking a 'U' where you are not supposed to turn-around and so on. In some of such cases, landing up with a tactically located traffic cop is a possibility even though in big cities like Delhi, there would never be enough cops nor would be many self-conscious motorists (In smaller towns, there are different issues and traffic sense is worse in most of the cases).
Beyond such obvious details, there are certain other phenomena too. One such phenomenon is to observe (not referring to ogling here)and I have this uncanny habit of picking up the unusual. Like today, while waiting at the traffic signal that is located closest to EBS (NIT crossing), I happened to see a middle-aged man in his shorts and t-shirt, walking on the footpath. His dress and his demeanor did not gel though since he did not appear to be a jogger or walker despite his sporty attire. With more than 80 seconds to go, I kept on looking at the man with some inexplicable interest. The gentleman halted next to a tea-vendor (who sits on the pavement, without any roof or cover) and I realised that he was wearing bathroom slippers. So, he was certainly not out to gain health - it became obvious! Over next 30 seconds or so, he had a cigarette between his lips and a pouch of ghutka (tobacco laced pan-masala) in his hands. The vendor, obviously, knew his customer well. The macho-man, then, peeled off the pouch and emptied the whole sachet into his mouth, carelessly discarding the pouch on the road itself (I hated the last part the most). I moved on, coaxed by a honking car behind my back. Nothing unusual and yet the scene kept coming back to me even as I climbed four levels to reach the classroom. Was it illegal smoking in the public; was it dirtying the place; was it such an unhealthy habit that had dragged him out of his bed or what else was it? I am still not sure!
Writing about traffic signals, there is one phenomenon that makes me vulnerable time and again, more so after shifting to this mad city. I am not a person who drives rash or who jumps the lights but there are times when the yellow blinker comes on as you struggle to cross the stop line. Legally as well as morally, stop line should not be crossed after the green turns yellow but initially it used to be because of someone (with his/her tail on fire) honking behind me and now, more out of reflex, I have noticed myself crossing the line once in a while. Even though I always keep time-cushions and I am generally comfortable for time, the idea of moving on instead of waiting another minute or so, appears to be too tempting at times. This is a confession and I now pledge not to get sucked into the vacuum that gets created whenever Greens give way to Yellows!
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