Ignorance is bliss

India lives in villages. Or at least it used to. Life in villages is actually quite peaceful. For my part, I have stayed in a few small towns and I have seen a life which is far different from the urban metropolis. The best part in a small-town life is that it is uncomplicated. There are no jams, no big malls, no multiplexes, no show-offs and best of all, no traffic rules. Its so much fun. 

However, there is a sudden and rapid growth in lot of small towns. And sometimes when small towns grow very fast, the original residents don't know how to cope with the change. Our depot manager, Mr Murthy is one such person. Most of his life he has stayed in Bangalore. Before the software revolution happened and The Forum mall happened, Bangalore used to be a quiet place. Peaceful, laid-back and pretty much like a small town. The best part was, there were no traffic rules like now. This is what hurts Murthy most. The damn traffic rules. Thank god its not one person who makes these or he would have got a piece of mind from Murthy.

Yeah, so Mr Murthy still rides a bajaj scooter. For the ones who think it used to be in a different era, it is there. Very much there. And he rides it as if he still lives in the times when he bought it. The other day I was riding pillion on his Bajaj chetak. I think he takes the name "chetak" too seriously. He rides like that. Actually he flies. So every time I sit with him, I hold my breath and get ready for the joyride. Coming back to the point, I was riding pillion and we were going office hunting. So we reach this place which has cars parked in the official parking spot and no parking on either side of the road. I am wondering where would he park his 'chetak' and suddenly I see our man go and park it right in the portico of the next house. For a moment I was zapped and then I did not know where to hide. I was looking at him walking towards me with a smile and I asked how did you park there, and he just said "parwah nahin"! Amazing, isn't it? This was quite a while back but it left a lasting impression on me. 

Today we went out on his chopper once again. We reached our destination and I was expecting some more parking heroics from him, considering there was not much parking space. Expectedly, he stopped right in front of a no-parking board. I was about to jump off and claim that I don't know him when he stopped and asked the small 'chai' shop fellow just across the street "when did this no parking board come here".. I was wondering if Mr Murthy will break that no parking signage. Thankfully, he just parked his chopper couple of feet away from the no-parking sign. Thats his ode to the new city culture. Ride on!!