Last evening, I was returning back from the office, along with a couple of friends. After passing the Pallavaram bus stand on GST road, a maroon Wagon-R cut into my lane, quite sharply. He moved in from my left and literally bulldozed his way in front of me.
Those of you who have travelled with me, may have experienced my reaction in such situations. I blare my car horn like crazy or keep flashing the headlights for a few seconds. Depending on the intensity of anger, the few seconds can be up to 5 or 6. Five seconds may appear to be very less in the larger context of life, but try honking and flashing the headlights for 5 continuous seconds and you will realise that it is indeed a long time!
In addition to the visible displays of displeasure, I let lose
some of the good words I know,if there are no women-folk in my car. Unfortunately, there was a lady in my car and so I couldn't satiate my anger audibly. So, I had to resort to a slightly intense honking and headlight flashing. I think I crossed the 5 second limit and actually did both the actions for that period. The driver who cut into my lane seemed to have gotten the message and moved a little to his left.
He extended his hand out and gave me the signal to pass him. But there was no real space for me to pass by and I realised that he was only mocking me. So, I didnt make any attempt to pass him. We were nearing a signal and the guy moved to the left lane, after again clearly indicating to me to pass him on the right. I pulled up to his right and stopped at the signal.
For those of you who have not been in such situations, let me explain that the next step in such a drama, is usually the stare. The drivers of both cars stare at each other and quite often resort to mouthing obscenities at each other. I usually never stay away from a staring context and given the fact that I have rather big eyes, even my normal look sometimes appears to be a stare. Somehow, after pulling up near that car, I didnt stare at the driver.
I thought I had won that contest and opted to take the moral high road by not starting at him. Also, due to the signal, he had stopped a few feet behind me in the left lane and so a direct line of sight could not be established. When the green light came up, the traffic started moving slowly and he inched up to the same position as mine. I finally felt the need to provide him the obligatory stare and turned towards him.
The guy was quite well built and had a tough look about him. And he did glare quite menacingly, but I continued to hold his stare. I then noticed a slight movement of his left hand on the steering wheel and looked that side, without really letting go of the "eye-lock".
The left hand was discretely holding a steel instrument and it clearly had a handle and a blade. The guy was holding a knife! I was slightly alarmed at this point, since there was no way I could hold myself against a goon holding a knife. I tried to maintain my composure and continued my stare. I was only hoping that whatever fearful thoughts were running in my head, were not overflowing through my eyes.
Luckily, the traffic moved some more and the guy once again moved into my lane, in front of me. I had the sense and of course traffic space, to move to the left. The guy continued in the right lane and I noticed that he was getting to the next signal to take a right. I wondered if it was a strategy on his part to let me go by and then follow me! So, the remaining part of my drive was spent more in watching the rear-view mirror, than the road in front of me.
One thing that continues to surprise me is the profile of that driver. You think of a Wagon-R, a maroon colored one and one that bears a white number plate and you think that the guy who is driving it is a guy in his 30s, having a desk job, with a wife and 1-2 kids. In fact, minus the wife and kids, that is exactly who I am and I drive a Wagon-R! But here is a knife-wielding guy, driving a Wagon-R, a petrol car and one with a white number plate. The guy would have been a perfect fit in a Tata Sumo!
So, from now on, I am going to mellow down a lot more and keep my road rage under control as much as possible.
Those of you who have travelled with me, may have experienced my reaction in such situations. I blare my car horn like crazy or keep flashing the headlights for a few seconds. Depending on the intensity of anger, the few seconds can be up to 5 or 6. Five seconds may appear to be very less in the larger context of life, but try honking and flashing the headlights for 5 continuous seconds and you will realise that it is indeed a long time!
In addition to the visible displays of displeasure, I let lose
some of the good words I know,if there are no women-folk in my car. Unfortunately, there was a lady in my car and so I couldn't satiate my anger audibly. So, I had to resort to a slightly intense honking and headlight flashing. I think I crossed the 5 second limit and actually did both the actions for that period. The driver who cut into my lane seemed to have gotten the message and moved a little to his left.
He extended his hand out and gave me the signal to pass him. But there was no real space for me to pass by and I realised that he was only mocking me. So, I didnt make any attempt to pass him. We were nearing a signal and the guy moved to the left lane, after again clearly indicating to me to pass him on the right. I pulled up to his right and stopped at the signal.
For those of you who have not been in such situations, let me explain that the next step in such a drama, is usually the stare. The drivers of both cars stare at each other and quite often resort to mouthing obscenities at each other. I usually never stay away from a staring context and given the fact that I have rather big eyes, even my normal look sometimes appears to be a stare. Somehow, after pulling up near that car, I didnt stare at the driver.
I thought I had won that contest and opted to take the moral high road by not starting at him. Also, due to the signal, he had stopped a few feet behind me in the left lane and so a direct line of sight could not be established. When the green light came up, the traffic started moving slowly and he inched up to the same position as mine. I finally felt the need to provide him the obligatory stare and turned towards him.
The guy was quite well built and had a tough look about him. And he did glare quite menacingly, but I continued to hold his stare. I then noticed a slight movement of his left hand on the steering wheel and looked that side, without really letting go of the "eye-lock".
The left hand was discretely holding a steel instrument and it clearly had a handle and a blade. The guy was holding a knife! I was slightly alarmed at this point, since there was no way I could hold myself against a goon holding a knife. I tried to maintain my composure and continued my stare. I was only hoping that whatever fearful thoughts were running in my head, were not overflowing through my eyes.
Luckily, the traffic moved some more and the guy once again moved into my lane, in front of me. I had the sense and of course traffic space, to move to the left. The guy continued in the right lane and I noticed that he was getting to the next signal to take a right. I wondered if it was a strategy on his part to let me go by and then follow me! So, the remaining part of my drive was spent more in watching the rear-view mirror, than the road in front of me.
One thing that continues to surprise me is the profile of that driver. You think of a Wagon-R, a maroon colored one and one that bears a white number plate and you think that the guy who is driving it is a guy in his 30s, having a desk job, with a wife and 1-2 kids. In fact, minus the wife and kids, that is exactly who I am and I drive a Wagon-R! But here is a knife-wielding guy, driving a Wagon-R, a petrol car and one with a white number plate. The guy would have been a perfect fit in a Tata Sumo!
So, from now on, I am going to mellow down a lot more and keep my road rage under control as much as possible.
1 comment:
Quite obviously you're going to have an all new set of car-poolers from now.
Also, I hope you've learnt your lesson. Always carry a gun in the glovebox.
(for all you know, playing by the WagonR stereotype, the guy could've been a caterer returning home with his favourite vegetable knife)
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