[mooza]

Originally Posted by s3va

That was a sweet act ! But for one moment, the auto guy might have felt bricks falling underneath when you reached out for the tool kit ! He would have even suspected that you were about to reach out for a club or a fully loaded machine gun to smother down the auto guy !

Ha ha, no the situation didn't actually appear that way, at the spot ! I briefly told him that we could fix this problem right now, and then I went behind my car to take out the tool kit. My very act of touching his vehicle to inspect the damage had already cooled him down 50%.

Thanks & cheers

[Gordon]

Another one. STOP SMOKING WHEN YOU'RE COMMUTING / DRIVING / RIDING. This is very annoying for bikers especially since many flick the ash and it comes right in your face.

[s3va]

Originally Posted by Gordon

Another one. STOP SMOKING WHEN YOU'RE COMMUTING / DRIVING / RIDING. This is very annoying for bikers especially since many flick the ash and it comes right in your face.

So does this initiate a road rage ?
Or is it just an etiquette that you have mentioned .

Giving it a thought again, yes it might initiate a road rage for throwing that ash from your cig onto the face of a biker behind !

[sbraj]

Originally Posted by s3va

Giving it a thought again, yes it might initiate a road rage for throwing that ash from your cig onto the face of a biker behind !

Hot ash flying into face is outright dangerous. From cars, because of lower height, it probably would fall down. But from a bus or lorry, it may hit the face.

Another irritant is puke landing on you.

[anilisanil]

I have developed this compulsive obsession to be excessively critical about anything I think, which is inhibiting my cynicism and hence my creative ability, but that is not why I am writing this.


Today morning, while I was driving to office, I yet again had to be a part of this crawling traffic. This is when I get to see the moronic wealth of this world, it hurts me a lot when people jump lines and cut me ahead, my blood boils and I hate my helplessness and let it engulf me in it grandiose numbness inducing fashion. I wage a meek battle by honking and let the bugger go, like the Swift guys, whom I find generally hopeless and less rule abiding.


But today morning was different; I was stuck between a bus on my left side which want o cut to its right before me and a Ritz that wants to cut to its left(because there is something obstructing its way). I chose the easiest way and went into the way of Ritz; he did not budge and ended up scraping against my front bumper.


Now starts the drama, the co-driver of the car barges out and start hurling abuses against me. I look at him and my wife- remember the compulsive obsession to be critical- I really cannot hurl abuses back, my wife is a sweet being who is disturbed even if I get a bit angry, but I do look at him, my wild side boiling, dying to answer his repetitive “kya karlega?” with a cold gun shot or may be a heavy thump with my fist on his head.


Mean while, the driver comes out straight to my car, oblivious of the traffic he is holding with a selfish motive to showcase his power to me. I have a central locking system, my car does not open and in the meanwhile a cop arrives. He quickly takes the two licenses and asks us to pull to the shoulder, just as I was about to; the other guy grabs his license and moves away.


The cop then gets back to me; my wife still terrified, and returns the license and asks me to leave too. What I did not understand in the whole episode is why was I stopped? Why was I asked to leave all at the disposal of an erring guy? Is this what I have to bear with? Being on the right side of law does not help me; it harasses me, teases me, abuses me and may be even hits me if there is a chance? Is this something I should put up with?


Can you imagine my dilemma on which side to take? Should I be a fearful, submissive person that I never was and never could be just because I have a family to care for? Or should I unleash the beast in me and give the, literate, uneducated, barbaric, rich idiots, my piece of mind. This unrest kills me; I somehow wish I never developed that common-sense. Or may be I need the advice of gurus who had been there and done that on how to handle this!!


I know most say forget and forgive, but it is becoming excessively difficult for me to control.

[ghodlur]

Anil,

Nice write up, agree on most of the occassions with most of the things you felt. Good thing that the beast in you did not overcome the intelligent part of you. I have come across many a such morons who dont, I mean absolutely dont use the turn indicators to tell which way they are going. This behaviour is not just limited to cars, but even bikers, buses, trucks and all those things on 2 and 4 wheels. Even those on 2 feet are addicted to this strange behaviour.

In all such cases, I feel keeping your composure is of utmost importance. Many a times I felt like brandishing a baseball bat and smash people who spit while driving, follow no traffic signal basics, but then you dont belong to the cavemen era isn't it. Its like "haathi paala hai to sehna toh padega".

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by anilisanil

Can you imagine my dilemma on which side to take? Should I be a fearful, submissive person that I never was and never could be just because I have a family to care for? Or should I unleash the beast in me and give the, literate, uneducated, barbaric, rich idiots, my piece of mind. This unrest kills me; I somehow wish I never developed that common-sense. Or may be I need the advice of gurus who had been there and done that on how to handle this!!

@anilisanil - This is the mental impasse I find myself in, day in & day out, but am not expressive enough to put it in words like you did. However, I am of the opinion that it happens not only while I am in traffic, but also while going through the daily grind and surpasses distinctions of literacy levels and economic strata. Be it a shop, my housing society or office, I get the feeling that most people in general give two hoots about their surroundings and their fellow beings. Call it civic sense, sense of community, being considerate or whatever you like - there's an acute lack of it these days.

We are rapidly becoming barbarians.

Cheers,
Vikram

[anilisanil]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

Anil,


In all such cases, I feel keeping your composure is of utmost importance. Many a times I felt like brandishing a baseball bat and smash people who spit while driving, follow no traffic signal basics, but then you dont belong to the cavemen era isn't it. Its like "haathi paala hai to sehna toh padega".

That is my whole problem ghodlur, I cannot keep my composure nor can I be the barbarian, I tell you it is much more than what I wrote there, no one shares my agony, when I tell this to my friends they say ignore, but I can't. One such incident disappoints me for days together. It is not anger, I know it, but there is this unrest which haunts me, as if it is hell determined to break my nerves.

Originally Posted by comfortablynumb

@anilisanil - This is the mental impasse I find myself in, day in & day out, but am not expressive enough to put it in words like you did. However, I am of the opinion that it happens not only while I am in traffic, but also while going through the daily grind and surpasses distinctions of literacy levels and economic strata. Be it a shop, my housing society or office, I get the feeling that most people in general give two hoots about their surroundings and their fellow beings. Call it civic sense, sense of community, being considerate or whatever you like - there's an acute lack of it these days.

We are rapidly becoming barbarians.

Cheers,
Vikram

Good to know someone empathizes with me and feels the same, hope humans have the facility to "delete" memories!!

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by anilisanil

That is my whole problem ghodlur, I cannot keep my composure nor can I be the barbarian, I tell you it is much more than what I wrote there, no one shares my agony, when I tell this to my friends they say ignore, but I can't. One such incident disappoints me for days together. It is not anger, I know it, but there is this unrest which haunts me, as if it is hell determined to break my nerves.

Agreed, but if you look at it you are the one going through the pain. The faster you come out of the shell, the better. I would suggest dont let this frustration build inside you coz you never know in any other such incident you might never be able to control yourselves in time and end up losing something bigger for something trivial.

In my last trip when I was returning back from Sangli and driving at peaceful speeds, a biker rear ended my Fiesta. The biker guys were thrown off the road. Although it was totally their fault, I got down & calmly had a look at the damage and saw a small paint peel off on my rear bumper. Had I reacted at that time & that too not in my familiar territory, I would have faced a much bigger damage that expected. Also apologies from the biker guys immediately helped me regain my composure and I had forgotten the whole episode in the next hour of driving.

[Xryder]

This is what happened to me this past Sunday. I was travelling with my mother in my car from Ulsoor Lake, climbing the slope which splits towards Adigas Signal (left turn) and Commercial Street Signal (right turn). I was coming from the right side and there was a speeding Meru-cab coming from the opposite side. I happened to enter the left turn and seconds later I see the meru cab heading straight for my car head-on towards the front-left passenger side where my mother was seated. I was moving slowly at perhaps 15-20Km's max as i had slowed down to avoid a pothole at the entry to this turn. On seeing this maniac rush towards me i steer towards the curb in order to avoid a collision and in a flash my right front wheel is on the footpath and inches away from ramming the wall pillar adjacent to the footpath. This rash chap then pulls corner to the exit and turns right heading to the commercial street. My mother is a heart patient and seeing her so frightened, i pulled out and went behind this cab to atleast note down his number plate and luckily enough he was tailgating a rick and honking wildly to get the rick to give way. Next to the rick there was a BMTC bus moving at snail pace and he was trapped. I pulled behind the BMTC and as it moved a little ahead, I pulled in between the rick and slowed down right there in the middle of the road and stopped my car. I got out, opened the door and asked him to get out. He was travelling with 2 ladies in the back and a child, a boy of 7 or 8 years sitting in the front passenger seat. Only thing that calmed me down at that moment was the look on all the passengers face including the kid in front. I asked him to step out of the car so I could thrash him hard. I was yelling at him asking if this is how he drives, especially with passengers on board. By this time, the Pajero driver who was behind me while i ran over the curb/footpath also had stopped and stepped out. He caught the cab driver by his collar and was yelling at him in Kannada. I dont speak kannada and could not understand a word of it.At that point owing to the fact that a small traffic jam had piled up due to this commotion, we let the cab driver go after noting down his name and number. He was pleading and begging the gentleman owner of the Pajero who was quite well-built and hefty looking and was inches away from swallowing the drivers head as a whole.

After this ordeal, I would like a few answers from those who are able to understand my state of mind at that very moment.

01.What I want to ask is how does one deal with such instances on the road where you have minutes to decide what to do ?

02. What would have happened had their been a pedestrian on the footpath at the moment I had run over into it and perhaps run into the pedestrian on the footpath?

03. Was I wrong here to actually follow the meru cab and stop him in the middle of the road ? I had a severe urge to actually thrash him then and there on the road and let me tell you it was so so tough to hold back and resist the urge to lose control during those 10-15minutes.

04. What would have happened had there been nobody else to support me at that point assuming the Pajero driver did not stop to help me out.

[download2live]

Originally Posted by anilisanil

I have developed this compulsive obsession to be excessively critical about anything I think, which is inhibiting my cynicism and hence my creative ability, but that is not why I am writing this.

I read somewhere that closer you are to truth simpler the things are to understand.
"I was born intelligent but education ruined me" is actually not a one line joke, but truth.

If you try to interpret what is happening in this world in terms of morals and ethics taught to us when we were kid then you will be left fumbling for answers.
Get close to truth as ugly as it might be. Might is right. Survival of the fittest.
Looks might differ but nature wise there is no difference between wild monkeys and us.
There is a pack leader who can have his way over the rest. And the rest who are ruled. Not that the pity should be on the rest. Given a chance they will be even more violent than the leader.

My suggestion to you is to become a politician. If that is not possible then atleast get into civil services.
Once that is done then you will find people on their knees and kissing your After Sales Service.

That my dear friend is power. Everything else is words. Just words which we can keep on generating uselessly. Right now you are powerless. Become powerful. No brainer. Right?

OT: I have decided to give my kid freedom to choose what he wants to be. But I will make a strong pitch for political career. I was ruled all my life (e.g. I am a middle class citizen). Not my kid. He/She will live life of a person who rules.

[Gansan]

Listen to soothing music as you drive, not something that gets you keyed up. Meditation/yoga can help. Learn to laugh at your own follies, as well as that of others.

Expect idiotic and cranky behaviour from every vehicle you encounter. That way, you will be pleasantly surprised when they behave! This will be a lot better than expecting civilized driving from everyone and getting worked up when they drive like morons!

[wanderlustindia]

I have to travel almost 80 kms daily and to avoid meeting all kinds of studs on the road, I start early (8 am) and leave early (4:30 pm or thereabouts). That way, I dont pass through dense traffic both ways. Lesser idiots to deal with on the road. Plus good music on the way. Ignore any racing attempts by fellow drivers. No eye contact with potential trouble-makers, thats a definite thing to do. And yes, always believe that the person ahead of you or behind you could act funny. You automatically play safe and drive better and safer.

[Shan2nu]

The best way to avoid road rage is to never put yourself in a position where you're running short on time (except on a race track). It's that sense of restlessness that makes most people lose it.

Avoid this and you wont have to depend on anything else, to keep you calm.

Shan2nu

[Spitfire]

Originally Posted by Xryder

01.What I want to ask is how does one deal with such instances on the road where you have minutes to decide what to do ?

First thing to do is see that you are in total control of your vehicle. Second always remember it is better to scratch, bang the car then hitting that pedestrian or bike rider.

Car can be repaired a human being hit is a long drawn issue.

02. What would have happened had their been a pedestrian on the footpath at the moment I had run over into it and perhaps run into the pedestrian on the footpath?

That could have been curtains for you. The MERU cab guy would have never known what he caused.

03. Was I wrong here to actually follow the meru cab and stop him in the middle of the road ? I had a severe urge to actually thrash him then and there on the road and let me tell you it was so so tough to hold back and resist the urge to lose control during those 10-15minutes.

Yes it was wrong. Nothing will change the Meru cab driver, even today he will be cutting of people. If you had thrashed him and since you already said you are not a local. The driver could have transformed into Superman as soon as he got to know that, he could have got immediate support from the low life's around. All the local language speaking guys could have ganged up, roughed you up and demanded money. Cops would then do the same to you later at the station.

The urge is a devil inside don't let it get the better of you. Its not worth it. Pray a silent prayer that the driver will suffer someday and in a worse possible manner. No one gets away.

04. What would have happened had there been nobody else to support me at that point assuming the Pajero driver did not stop to help me out.

Same as point 3.