CROSSING ROAD

In cities and other places, people that walk on/cross road are known as ‘pedestrians’. As per the traffic rules, they should cross the road walking on the ‘zebra crossing’ near the board bearing the words ‘Pedestrian Crossing’. But majority of the pedestrians normally do not like to take the strain of finding a nearby pedestrian crossing spot of the road to go to the other side of the road. So, they cross the road wherever they like and majority of the regular vehicle drivers on the roads of the cities are aware of this common phenomenon. Some pedestrians are so skillful and tactful that even people in big and costly vehicles can’t help regretting their lives. They simply stretch out a hand signing the vehicle users not to dash them and hurriedly cross the road. Some pedestrians are so disciplined and visionary that they take hours (metaphoric of course) to cross the road. This problem of road crossing mostly arises depending on the number of vehicles that pass on a particular road during a particular period of time. Some roads are very congested all the time and so they are beyond the point of ‘particular time’. One can’t understand the magnitude of an issue realistically unless one actually undergoes it. I faced such a situation very recently.

The executive of a software company asked me to attend an interview at their office. They wanted a Content Writer. I hired an auto rickshaw and rushed to the spot soon after my office hours that evening. I paid the fellow and got on to the road, precisely from my relatively safer zone to risky one. The office I was supposed to go to was located on the other side of the road, opposite Shoppers’ Stop at Begumpet in Secunderabad.

I stood by the edge of the road waiting for a considerable moment to attend my task ‘crossing the road’. It was about 5:50 p.m. A number of vehicles were passing past me and I was simply observing the beauty of the vehicles and the luxury of the people sitting in them. I thought ‘How lucky they are! They can simply cross the road because they look big to others when sitting in their vehicles’. I am a small fellow and my body doesn’t look big to them and so they don’t care whether I cross the road or not. Crossing the road was my concern and nothing serious happens in this world even if I couldn’t do it even after some two or three hours. These facts began to hover around my active consciousness. I was simply waiting to see if the rush of the traffic lessens a bit so that I could cross the road briskly and it was not happening. A young man was sitting on his bike and talking with a woman on one side of the road where I got off from the auto rickshaw. I thought that perhaps they were talking about me. I look like a buffoon or bumpkin to the modern guys and girls on the bikes for they might think that one that fails to cross any busy road within two minutes is none other than a ‘coward’. One needs guts to cross the road within seconds not minding the consequences if anything hits by chance. I lacked those guts at that time and so it could be a hot topic for other observers to chat upon (if they had time and no other important work to be attended). On the other hand, some fellows were easily crossing the road just before my eyes and I was wondering at them instead of following their footsteps. They know that the vehicle users know what they do when the road is much packed with vehicles. When one takes an initiative with a bold or reckless attitude, others can’t help appreciating one. When a few pedestrians are crossing the road, not minding the vehicles on the road that seriously, the fellows comfortably sitting in their vehicles can’t help thinking ‘Great people are crossing the road right now. I should wait and allow them to do it peacefully. After all I am the bearer of a single vehicle on the spot. But they are greater than me for they can stop all the vehicles on the road until they cross the road. Hats off to pedestrians!’ The pedestrian thinks while crossing the road ‘These blokes in the cars and these bus drivers presume that they are great and so keep on driving their vehicles until they see a red light at the traffic control point. The hell with them. How long can I wait to see if they ever stop to allow me to pursue my act peacefully? I can’t help taking the initiative if I have to reach the other side. I have my own responsibilities and the related stress levels. After all I am also a modern citizen and I too need to do things fast just like them’. I stood for about ten minutes in the same position and no vehicle stopped for my sake. Many fools stand by the road without any serious task at hand and so few like to worry about them. I was also a fool in this setting in that sense. I can’t expect from one of the vehicle users remark at me ‘It seems you want to cross the road. Shall I ask the other fellows to stop their vehicles for a while to keep the road ready for you to attend the historical act?’

I would have crossed the road early but for the fear of the ‘unexpected’. When one is very concerned about one’s safety on the road, one can’t help encountering the arbitrary questions like ‘What if a vehicle hits me or some male fellow chides me for I am crossing the road obstructing the free flow of the traffic in an uncivilized manner or some kind fellow applies a sudden brake to save me from the danger or some beautiful girl in some car finds me as an idiot for I am madly crossing the road stopping her car for a while and thus delaying her much-waited date with her lover’. When one is engaged in such these thoughts, one can’t cross the road.

The evident fact is that there is every chance that anybody can simply be hit by some vehicle. The body that we grow affectionately for years using toilet soaps, talcum powders, fairness creams, maintaining healthy diet, following fitness measures, introducing lifestyle changes, practicing yoga, and so on is going to be stained with blood within seconds if something unexpected occurs. Crossing the road predominantly falls in this category of ‘danger at hand’. Pedestrians think that they are supermen and so they can airily cross the road and the vehicle users think that they are the rich or the fashionable cream of the modern society and so the bloody pedestrians should stand by the road until they leave the space for them. Every human being has a word of his own and it seems rational when seen from his point of view. So, I remained by the road like a good boy (any guy with decency in his behavior and vision while embarking on challenging initiatives) and the fellows traveling by the vehicles did not appreciate my being a ‘good boy’. In the modern days many scold a fellow if he recklessly crosses the road but few notice the decent fellow standing by the road like a good boy. I was not hurt to know that the people were not recognizing my civic sense. I consoled myself saying ‘They have no that much time to stop and appreciate you. Be a bit practical idiot’.

At last the great chance had come my way. Some four or five people were there beside me waiting to cross the road. I quickly overviewed the latest developments around me and thought “The best opportunity has landed before you. Crossing a busy road is not an easy thing for old-fashioned rustics like you and nobody is there to pity your helplessness. Just follow them while they are moving to the other side. They take a fast and collective decision on the spot and you should be an honorary member of their team to reach your goal ‘reaching the other side, crossing the road, escaping the vehicles, not disturbing the flow of the traffic in a considerable way’”. I announced red alert to myself and joined them in crossing the road. Collective endeavors mostly yield considerable fruits in any field of human involvement and we could easily cross the road as a team. The vehicle users respect us a bit when they see us as a collective force. Even if somebody is hit on the way, the other team members can do something immediately. Though the attachment is of very transitory nature, the feeling of a sense of belongingness gives us the required strength to boldly cross the road/do something.

In metros, crossing the road is a big problem for the pedestrians and it can’t be resolved as long as there are neat roads and many vehicles with drivers in them. These days the number of rich people has greatly increased in the cities and the automobile companies are coming ahead with attractive offers. Owning a bike or a car is no more a big issue for many in the metros. Let the price of petrol or diesel be hiked quite frequently by the government, they are little bothered about it. It is a point of minimum prestige, and maximum personal comfort, and so, many like to own a vehicle. Banks are anyhow there to help us at any time. Attractive loan facilities with fascinating repayment options push majority toward taking the bold initiative ‘owning some vehicle’.

Walking/jogging has become a great passion for many these days for they need to keep fit controlling the levels of hypertension or obesity. Low level jobholders are always there to join the pedestrian group. So, the number of pedestrians is also greatly increasing.

These bare truths show us that we can’t help them. Then we have to resort to ‘self-help’. Before we get ready to cross the road, we have to remember that we have a few relatives, a few friends and a few well-wishers who might get hurt to know that we were hit by a vehicle and received a few injuries or we died on the spot. Nobody remains with us always to guide us and it is more so in the modern ways of living; everybody has their own headaches and they can’t share ours if we face some problem owing to our recklessness or carelessness. Being cautious is important. When we maintain this stand in our day-to-day lifestyle, we may miss certain things, but we do not lose our valuable life. Our future may not be bright, but we should live on this soil to check why it did not turn ‘bright’.

We can’t avoid the point of ‘crossing the road’ from our lives if we are associated with city life in some sense. So, the more we remain alert on the roads, the more we look sensible to others. The fact is that we may encounter the ‘unexpected’ even if we remain very cautious and visionary. But it falls under the category of ‘fate’ and few blame us when such occurrences befall us under its banner name. Being extremely cautious in matters of road crossing is also avoidable. People with such tendencies may cross the road at late nights for it is the time the daytime busy roads may remain free. Being moderate is enough. In the above scenario I remained a moderate fellow in some sense. I joined the other fellows after waiting for about ten minutes. When we can’t do something alone, we had better join others with similar pursuits or interests; a simple logic as such.

The best way to avoid the nuisance and the related tensions of road crossing is to buy a vehicle or hire one (time to time) depending on our abilities or the urgency of the requirements on the spot. We need to mind our financial soundness before engaging ourselves in these issues. As long as we are pedestrians, we should remember the point ‘we are at the mercy of the vehicle owners on the road’ and we should act accordingly to remain safe.

That evening taught me ‘crossing the road carefully is more important than attending an interview’. It is so because ‘there are many employers but only one life with us’. We should save our lives, minute to minute, for dangers lurk about us waiting second to second for the right moment to attack us. We should always remember while in the metros ‘nobody is there to share my pain if something unexpected befalls me, so, better I try to keep away from the sources of danger, the generators of pain’.

Above all, pray God requesting Him to keep your ‘fate’ under control. This is what I observed in the twin cities. Even more foolish and innocent pedestrians than me are able to live in these places struggling with the roads on a daily basis. Some divine force is safeguarding them from the pitfalls of danger. Otherwise we should see a number of casualties on a daily basis centered on ‘road crossing’ but it is not the case in reality. We rarely hear that somebody was hit while crossing the road. Much of the credit in this respect goes to the vehicle users for it is an appreciable quality on their part ‘observing kindness toward the underprivileged being in a privileged position’. I like to blame the pedestrians in majority of the cases for I saw the actual picture on the roads. They think that they are great and so cross the road in a stupid manner. Imagine the vehicle users taking themselves to be great and driving their vehicles as fast as they can do minding the traffic signals only. Pedestrians shiver to cross the road in such an environment even when there is nothing before them on the road. But it is not happening in reality. Doesn’t it mean that the rich ones are also behaving very well in majority of the cases? So, let’s not criticize them just like that without checking our faults. After all we are pedestrians (poor creatures) and we ought to maintain the same stand and approach in our thought and behavior while we are on the busy roads. Otherwise remember ‘DANGER IS LURKING ABOUT US’.

Datla Chiranjeevi Raju