What I Think About When I Walk

By the road as I walk, there are several road signs and other things which I do not notice. We walk as we think, or vice versa, and we do not notice many things which are common.

Some of them are commonly seen in Thane, my home town close to Mumbai, and some road signs are no longer seen.

Telephone booths belong to the latter class. We have mobiles now. We do not need the telephone booths, but they exist here.

Whenever I see a telephone booth, I remember Hindi movie scenes in which an ‘informer’ gives some vital information to the Boss aka the Villain, and someone hears the sound of a train passing by which gives away his location, and the story takes an unexpected turn.

I suspect that Apple programmers were influenced by such scenes and that is the reason our mobiles ask us our location!

Post Box is now a part of our postal history. These are not seen even in Hindi movies. But post box bring back some fond memories for a septuagenarian. Gone with them are the Inland letters and post cards! PIN Code has hammered the death knell for the post boxes. But that is in India. I see many post boxes in London.

There are two things usually found close to each other. A cycle stand and ….

…. a Bus Stand. Interestingly, people do not stand in a queue here, and usually a bus takes in all passengers.

There are signs declaring a road unsuitable for heavy good vehicles. I wonder how people carry their belongings when they move in to a house in such a lane.

And there are road signs with a light signal installed. No man is posted holding red and green flags as we see in Mumbai and Thane. Anything which can eliminate employing a person is implemented.

And there are signs reminding drivers that the speed limit is 20 miles per hour (not 32 Kms, they do not follow the metric system). All car drivers grumble about it because many roads do not have high traffic, but nobody exceeds the limit.

Discipline and courtesy are the two hallmarks of the road experience. If you step on the road, the traffic stops, particularly so if you are crossing through these yellow signages. People are more important than vehicles, not vice versa!

I watched an elderly person boarding a bus. Usually they flash their oyster card or credit card. A beep sound tells the bus driver that payment is made. Some say thanks at this juncture but many persons thank the bus driver when they alight.

London bus brings back old memories. I used to go to school taking a ‘double decker’ bus and always travelled on the upper deck.

And now the Thane will have double decker buses too.

Life goes a full circle. I hope the electric buses will bring traffic discipline and courtesy to Thane. Why be pessimistic?

And finally, this hoarding takes the cake. It was not of a political leader. It caught my eye. ‘Wear Blue for Rescue is about showing our love for all the wonderful rescue dogs and cats who really need a second chance in life.’

And anything to do with traffic in India requires ‘staring deep into our souls.’

Vivek S Patwardhan

What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others/ All work copyrighted.