Every time that I tell someone that I ride a scooter to office every day during the peak traffic hours of Mumbai; I get very interesting reactions which vary from sheer disbelief… skepticism… worry… to even pity! Many people think that it has something to do with my income status, as in their mind, any sane person who can afford a car would not bother with a scooter. I have lost the number of times these good wishing people suggested to me that I should ‘upgrade to’ or try to buy a Nano, which is the cheapest car on the market…
Well, I have learned to take these reactions for what they
are… some well-meaning comments by my acquaintances, who have absolutely no
idea that I am fully comfortable with my two wheeler ride to office and I am choosing this way of commute… even if I
can easily get a car for myself… (This, by the way, need not be a Nano!)
But I am not buying a car… nope… you know why?
Just think… who are the drivers suffering the most on our
roads?
Are they the BEST drivers who think that they own the road
and who are so used to driving the buses that they treat those huge red
monsters like a powerful bike which they can zig zag across the narrow roads
anyway they wish? Or are they auto-rickshaw or taxi drivers who are forever
driving as if they are in a formula one race? From experience I know that they
are definitely not the two wheeler drivers who can maneuver their way from any
density of traffic using whatever scrap piece of road/ footpath is available...
not to mention some of whom feel that their helmet protects their whole body
from any kind of injury and makes them invincible…
The drivers who suffer the most on these roads are our dear
car owners with their very dear cars. They are bullied and forced to be the
last to get out of any road in the race of all these vehicles. Whenever there
is an opening on the road for which at a time 5 vehicles are competing, it is
always the car driver who is forced to be the last. He cannot afford even a
brush against a giant bus, whose driver is fully aware of, and is ruthlessly
leveraging its size and strength to bully his way ahead… He cannot take on the waiting-to-fight-with-you
taxi drivers… and he is always forced to be cautious with I-am-too-tired-to-think-how-I-am-driving
rickshaw drivers. And if by chance a single bike has passed from that opening,
all the vehicles will have to wait till ALL the two wheelers pass from that one
foot gap. It is actually quite a feat that the bikers achieve when they manage
to create a single vehicle of 30-40 wheels out of a line of 15-20 bikes/
scooters...
So if you ask me, for personal driving, the smaller the
vehicle, the better choice it is for our over-used, highly-abused,
always-neglected, forever-in-need-of-repair and magically-shrinking Mumbai
roads!
One more aspect which adds on to the ‘concern’ my
well-wishers feel for me is their belief that it is completely OK for a guy to
drive a bike, but not for a lady… it can be quite dangerous. If I didn’t know
better, I would feel that they are more concerned about the danger I create for
others by driving a scooter… but since they have no qualms about a lady driving
a car, which can prove more dangerous for road-safety… I feel they might be
genuinely worried about me…
So here’s the other side of that coin…
After the feminist revolution of last century which brought
the women on an equal footing with the men, we ladies have lost something… and
that something is the chivalry, the courteousness, the gentleness of the male
population which was so favorably afforded to the women in those historic
days...
However there are indeed some places left in today’s world
where (surprisingly) the men are always gentlemanly towards women… and believe
it or not, our heavily-traffic-laden roads is one such place!
Even if they are
racing like maniacs against each other on a road, the guys will always give an
extra second for a lady to pass ahead if required. If they realize that it’s a
lady in the queue in front of them, which is moving from the 1 foot space
between footpath and the main road from where all the bikers are moving like
ants on a trail of sugar, there will not be any honking if the lady gets stuck
due to some bump in the road. If in the traffic you hit the hind wheel of the
bike in front of you, the guy might turn with some (interesting) expletives and
start on you, but one look at you - the lady driver – will make him nod to
indicate that it’s all right! Vice versa, if you get hit from a biker behind
you who realized that he hit a lady’s scooter, he’ll be completely contrite and
will never think of accusing you of breaking unexpectedly in between… at least
openly!
Not only bikers but even our ever-so-hostile rickshaw
drivers and taxi drivers are polite towards lady drivers. I need not even
mention the numerous incidents when women drivers get help with their vehicles
from the men in times of crisis – be it a battery down, flat tire, accident… or
anything in between. The gentlemanly courtesy is ever so present for the women
drivers on the roads.
However the biggest partiality displayed towards lady
drivers is – in my opinion and arguably – by the traffic police! If by chance a
lady is caught by a traffic police when she breaks a signal you would be
astonished to see the difference in the way the police would address the lady
and the fellow gentleman who also happened to break the same signal… one would
wonder how can a person speaking with such politeness and gentle tone with a
lady switch to street language in next sentence while speaking to the guys.
So guys – nope… I am not buying a car… I will continue to be this distinguished lady scooter driver who loves her two wheeler ride just as well as the next guy who loves his bike J
