Bombay welcomed their monsoon season with open arms. Looks like this is one season which keeps up to its promise year after year. It arrives on time and with a bang. Lots of thunder and lightning.
Ofcourse, we have the most beautiful roads in the whole wide world..so the traffic builds up like flies to a cake.
I sometimes fail to understand on why is it that we don't have road sense. Why? Why only over here do people feel that it is okay to drive on any given space. I am shocked to see how people over here lack basic civic sense.
The road was packed with every vehicle Bombay owned that day..rickshaws, cycles, bullock carts, taxis, cars, 4 wheel drives, motorbikes, trucks.....everything.
I was stuck in the jam a little over an hour now with my husband. Now i was beginning to get restless. I already had a long day and now just wanted to head home...didn't care how, I just wanted to go home.
We could hear the ambulance siren far from a distance.. because of the heavy rains, we couldn't figure out which side it was coming from,but as the noise grew louder it was clear it was heading our way.Somehow, the ambulance made it's way through the crowd by making way in any space available untill it reached about 5 feet behind us. The rain had now simmered down,it was soft and the light drizzle just made it easier for the vision to get clearer. The siren kept screaming away. Drivers had the option to move to the side to give a chance to the ailing to be attended to a little faster than usual. But they didn't chose the option. Nobody budged. Instead, people seemed to be aloof. Some were seen bobbing their heads to the music played in their cars,some were talking to each other like there was no hurry, some just sat there with one hand rested on the window holding up their head and the other on the wheel and staring into open space. Nobody payed attention to the siren..like it was there all the time..like they lived with the sound all day long.. all life long.
The funny part, there was a cop car who was stuck in the same jam and they too did'nt do much of the situation. They were just one of the crowd. My husband,since comes from here, said that this was normal. I,on the other hand, was just disgusted by everybody's behavior.
Nearly 6 minutes had passed and the ambulance hadn't moved from their stuck spot. On constant cribbing from my end, my husband moved the car to the side and got off, started asking the drivers to move the same and give way to the ambulance.We had to do something about it and so after a few curses and some drivers who willingly moved, the ambulance finally managed to pass around 10 cars..We sat back inside and saw how slowly the ambulance managed to movc forward. and finally after a good 15 mins disappeared from our sight...
That maybe just one of the small things for many, but this really shows what kind of attitude people live with over here.
This is a matter of personal opinion so I don't speak for everybody but as an expat,when people used to tell me that India is the most warmest country and people really are out there to help you..I'm sorry but I beg to differ,not because of this ambulance incident, but there hae been many other instances. I just don't think so.
