Just another day being traffucked!!!

Travelling to work 6-days a week (Yes, I don’t have a 5-day week!!) can get very tiring at times. We end up spending anything between 2-4 hours on an average on a daily basis commuting to work. For the people from the suburbs traveling by road can get really frustrating at times. Many factors which fiddle with our grueling travelling times.

I have been traveling to office by road for more than a decade and the present traffic condition hasn't improved one bit in the last ten years. The amount of vehicles (cars & bikes) which get added every single day on our roads is one mind-boggling number. I prefer travelling by bike since its helps me maneuver through traffic than driving a car. Over the last year I have been travelling to Andheri to work from Mulund, the average time taken is max an hour. I get done at 5PM and I’m comfortably home by 6PM, either by car or by bike. I just about miss the peak hour traffic. But off late the travel time has increased 0.5 times to a total of 1 ½ hour to reach my destination.

The PWD department of the BMC (Brihanmumbai Muncipal Corporation) which is in-charge of the roads have been doing a shoddy job for many years, there is no initiative to improve the quality of roads. Bombay’s monsoon season starts in June and ends somewhere in September. The BMC begins the road repairs somewhere in April-June which is targeted to complete before the onset of the monsoons, but going by the BMC’s reputation, that never happens. This repair cycle is repeated every year and is the same without even an iota of difference.

This year has been the worst, since both the main arterial roads WEH & EEH (Western Express Highway, Eastern Express Highway), although were repaired before the monsoons, have gone completely worse with each highway giving birth to newer potholes every single day, just like fishes giving birth to 100 or maybe 1000 eggs. The roads show a grim picture of how pathetic the repairs have been. There is no genuine quality of materials being used, contractors dupe the authorities to make quick bucks, contract agencies which are created on the fly, eventually the consequences have to be borne by the general public. Which means traffic is at its worst ever on weekdays. There is no respite even in the long term, governments change, leaders who take charge of the nation, seem to forget the ground realities. The common man still suffers. There is no improvement on this front ever.

I take the JVLR (Jogeshwari Vikhroli Link Road) route which is one of the most important roads that connects the west to the east. Off late due to some never ending underground road work before IIT gate, the travel time just increases by minutes. I remember the underground work starting almost a year back in Nov-December 2015, due to which there is a bumper-to-bumper traffic all the way from the Powai promenade to IIT gate. The journey is so excruciating these days that at the end of the trip you just want to get home as early as possible. But that is never a reality. Right!! Spending so much time in traffic you tend to get impatient which completely ruins your morning and you evening.

Now that we are at the end of the monsoons, the roads will undergo another round of temporary repairs for Bombay’s biggest festival – Ganeshotsav. I’m already dreading the immersion days, where the traffic just comes to a complete standstill. You don’t want to get stuck in this traffic during these days.

Although Bombay tops the traffic density with 430 cars per kilometer (as per TOI), the average time

spent in traffic is at an all-time high. There seems to be no immediate respite from the traffic.  With over crowded trains, buses, autos, private cars, trucks, etc. no proper traffic management in sight, never ending digging of roads which are a perpetual sight on Bombay roads, you will always encounter a jam on your way to work and back home, which eventually leads you to burn more fuel making the oil companies cash in. The other important reason is the basic one, i.e no proper road discipline when it comes to us. Yes us, we are equally at fault for these in numerous traffic jams. We flout the traffic rules every single day, jump signals, change lanes, drive on the wrong side of the road, double-laning, all these factors play a significant role in our contribution towards major traffic jams. We do not realize this because we are always looking at blaming the government or others for this mishap.

If we follow rules just like other populated cities, I’m sure there could be a major difference in the traffic scenario. There is no respect to pedestrians or other drivers, everyone wants to be ahead of the other vehicle, and this is something which is embedded in our DNA. I do not want to be a pessimist, but I see no hope in our traffic issues ever getting solved. No amount of road-widening projects, building flyovers, etc. will ever solve our traffic woes.  We need to get patient first and learn to respect others on the road, then become a disciplinarian by following basic road rules. This could be one of the solutions to reduce the frustration, the stress which we face on a daily basis. Happy trafficking!!!

111.6, 149.1, 346 & 499... Take a guess!!!

NUMBERS…. They have such mystery to it, so much of ambiguity if the context is unknown. We all have grown up on numbers, right from the moment you came into this world, the time of your birth, how much you weighed. Numbers have always been a part and parcel of our entire lives. Even death cannot escape numbers, the time and day of your death in the death certificate issued by the Doctor. Numbers will always have a vital role to play in our lives.

But for me the above numbers are very random in nature, there is no pattern or anything. Take a guess if you like? Although these numbers are in an increasing variance, which in a way represents going higher or growth, simply put they are the cylinder capacities of the motorcycles which I have owned and ridden over the last 16 years.

The first bike I bought was the Kawasaki Caliber in the year 2001 and the only reason I liked the bike was because that was the most comfortable bike for my height, i.e. I had enough of legroom!!! literally speaking. My legs wouldn’t touch the handle bars while turning the bike. I’m 5’11 inches and the other bikes available were kind of small for my height. And the other reason was that it had a round headlight. The others came in weird shapes and sizes. Rectangular, squarish, etc. At this point I never even imagined that I would be riding a 500cc bike today, 15 years later. It’s been a really long time, my preference for bikes changed over a period of time. I used to like sports bikes for their sheer design and their uber powerful engines (800cc, 1000cc, 1200cc, etc. etc.). And yes speed was always an attraction with the bigger motors.

But unfortunately my liking for sports bikes kind of reduced, since I realized I preferred long rides, unending roads, riding to faraway places. I did a Bombay-Goa trip on my Honda Unicorn (149.1cc)
and post that trip I just didn’t want to do anymore long rides on sports styled bikes. I was done, my ass just wasn’t meant for sports bikes. The CRUISER, the kind of bikes which you don’t speed, but enjoy the ride with comfortable seats, handle bars positioned to give you complete control yet keep you alert at all times. That’s when I started riding the Royal Enfield Electra (346cc) which actually wasn’t mine, I had exchanged it with by brother since I would do a weekend ride once a month. It didn’t make sense riding the Unicorn on the weekdays and take the Enfield on the weekend. You do the long rides with the bike you ride every day, that way you are well aware of the bike condition, else you would be surprised.

The Royal Enfield was a bike which I had disliked the most, it was heavy, mileage was terrible, the bike was noisy with serious vibrations - all the more reasons which made me never buy one in the first place. In fact the first bike I ever rode was my brother’s second hand Enfield (Yeahh!! I know it’s a little confusing) and I almost took it on the footpath the first time I rode it. This near collision experience made me hate the Enfield even more.

But looking back, I now realize that I would have been a proud owner of a Royal Enfield Bullet since 2001, had I liked it then. But everything changed when I decided to take my brothers Royal Enfield Electra to Goa the second time around. It was the most comfortable ride I had had in a really long time. I had been to Pune on the Caliber, Goa on the Unicorn, but the second trip to Goa on the Enfield was the best. It was one smooth ride, no qualms whatsoever, I could ride for a distance at a stretch, the bike was steady at 100kmph. We would have to take regular breaks just to go easy on the engine, but it was one of my most memorable rides to date. Enjoyed each and every mile of the 1200+ kms ride to Goa. Looking forward to many more road miles.

Today I’m proud and happy that I have my own Royal Enfield Bullet 500, that I can call my own, I do not have to return it to anybody (I had to return the RE Electra to my brother which I had exchanged with my Unicorn!!!). It’s been an amazing affair so far, like my brother says “The Bullet is my first wife!” I’m sure my wife will be a little envious, but that’s okay. Every guy has a special something with their toys.

I hope and pray that the Bullet 500 helps me travel many a mile, exploring newer places, unknown destinations, new roads and highways and keeps me safe and secure through the many miles that I will travel with her.

Godspeed.