Noman’s land (A Story)

Whose land is it anyway? No man's land!

 

There are many roads burning under the sun, dug with pot holes, crushed under the weight of traffic waiting to tell their stories.. This is just one of them I meet every day.. and she is asking me to tell you her story..

 

Kahani ka sheershak (The Title of the Story)

Ek sadak ki dard bhari kahani :-(The miserable story of one road)

 

Kailash complex – Powai road. Here I have marked it on Google Maps.. now you can visit it and see for yourself. Go in the morning and evening peak traffic to see the major drama…

Kailash – Complex to Powai Road, Powai, Mumbai

Matlab there are always potholes and loopholes on the road, but this one has both and just crazy ones.. it's like there is a circus every morning between 830 to 930 on the road.. Instead of going between Powai to Rcity via IIT, you can go thru Kailash Complex road. This one is almost 1/8 of the distance – a short cut in every sense.

 

first every 15 mins a Best Bus will be coming to the point of entrance and take a roundabout blocking the way of both sides.. Traffic jam .. almost 5 mins lost.. 4 minutes waiting and 1 minute of slow driving..

 

Then the auto walas.. they have to also turn around at the same point jumping on the passengers boarding off and flying them away to Powai.. turning and forcefully entering the road from the side..

 

But they are still ok, compared to those who just prefer to go by the opposite road.. they assume they are so small like a rat they can just go under the cars.. seriously…

Just a normal morning!

And not to forget trucks and buses taking the short cut.. when there is a railing blocking the path of exit where vehicles above 8 feet can go.. and here they are ok to go and get the door opened on the opposite side.. that is another loop at the EXIT.. big traffic jams happen in the evening because of this when cars on the left deadlock with the vehicles coming their usual route.. if you are a new comer you will be in a shock.. with behavior of the cars.. means anyone from any side.. and at the exit there is a roundabout actually it's more like a pie where a part of roundabout is blocked so you can't really go around. You go in a circle and revert back.. and the lights are dim there so cars trying for a U-turn get stuck there and don't get a change to back turn with a crowd of cars piled for exit at the gates.. so another road block.. why the metal doors.. what for.. they should have at the entrance than exits.. idiots..

 

Then the most tricky part the curve and incline.. It's like a steep hill point the last lap of climbing the steep… the last step, the last jump, the finishing point though it's the middle point.. and many a cars have lost their clutches there… with hand breaks pulled last moment for safety.. because clutches can ditch but not hand breaks… so without a break every day a car breaks down mostly an Indica which is getting really old, it should be done away with.. vicious traps of pollution and maintenance costs.. They were sold like crazy as Taxis around 10 years back but not anymore.. Innova has come up the curve.. higher class, spacious and smooth.. The diesel conundrum of our country where Diesel is preferred for taxi.. public transport against the public..

 

So anyways this steep point eventually a car breaks down.. and sometimes the car after it also breaks down waiting to move ahead.. hoping to.. finally giving up that last gasp and going off.. people had to come out and move the car at free gear and park it aside so that traffic can move.. auto etc breaking down is ok, 5 mins waste of time only, it can be easily parked at a side alone.. but a car especially a lone woman driver will not even get out… of the car.. it has happened with me.. but thankfully on the decline before the steep.. the clutch gave away and I was parked in the middle of road.. actually it is a hill top the road inclines on both sides to reach that point.. although the higher side is rocky making the drive a little like Road Rally.. so you can experience hill drive as well as rocky road rally.. and hurdle racing and traffic racing.. or slow driving like slow cycling … only in this you have to come first..

 

So here I was alone with a friend who was coming to stay over.. we girls are stranded in the middle of the road and then a dashing man with a good mustache came to help, and he pushed the car while I directed with my steering to the left.. He was a gentleman.. he moved the car, he offered help.. so nice and dashing.. my friend started blushing and playing with her hair. Her tone suddenly charming, especially to me more than the boy... I was irritated that the car broke down and my husband is traveling. How to get the car home now.. called Anoop fought with him before we figured a solution, called Just Dial and asked for contact numbers of towing service.. meanwhile I had thanked the man and sent him away, we saw him going to join his other friends in the car. All I remember is that he had a nice moustache.. so anyways the towing van came and first broke the cars hook trying to turn at the steep, then when I fought with him for not knowing how to tow a van. He called his boss, uncle ji came and drove my car home without clutch or break working.. he even parked in the basement. Now that's brilliant, we should have this kind of a race.. slow driving without using clutch a lot probably only once to start the car .. only break and lil accelerator.. 1^st gear racing.. this should be fun… a nice sport…

 

Any ways today I saw this machinery L&T .. let me Google what it is called… it has a hook.. sort of.. About 28,400,000 results… to carry here and there.. in fact this one had three hooks and was very long.. but the base was size of a medium truck.. oh it's a crane.. I knew that word.. with a hook tip.. so here it was going slowly and sharp turns it just took all the road.. in fact I had to climb over big rocks to cross it from the side.. it was scary, big and powerful.. it could just hold me in its tip and swing me around…

A Hook Crane on the climb

And then these two cars slightly kissed each other on the steep maneuver and now they are giving empty angry look threats to each other. But no one is stopping another to resolve it. They both know it not a big damage just a scratch or a chip… so why bother wasting time when you can get away with just giving eye threats.. who wants to get physical or try to communicate with another.. although if it was a big damage then the fight was worth it.. to get the money for repair.. or show some bossiness and manliness…

A Kiss and Stare Match

And what happens when two big heavy vehicles are crossing each other on the steep point.. well like two big sumo wrestlers they acknowledge each other with a bow.. and then allow the one coming up to go first.. now that's a rule my Dad taught me. On the hills whether you are left or right, big or small, first or last, the one going up should be allowed first.. it's a power issue.. not ego power, horse power. It takes more power to climb than descend..

 

Anyways the nuisance continues, more shops are opening on the side, more autos pushing their way around, people with bikes, fighting cars, kissing each other, children shitting on the road, and the most ugly part of the road which makes it the usual Mumbai road.. is the pile of garbage which is cleaned every day but is always there. It's the designated garbage place. Between the rich and poor , not with either of them but on the road. The road belongs to no one. And rich stay in their heights and poor in their holes and they throw the garbage on the ground.. The litter of the dogs and crows and egrets feeding on threat garbage and then shitting all over the heights and the holes.. giving back what they threw out in the first place…

 

And there are three temples and 1 church there. And the local politician has also put his posters claiming how he is repairing this road for benefit of Powai residents, not Ghatkopar Jhopadpatti guys but Powai residents. This is his way of showing he cares and they should care back for him and vote for him. Interesting

 

Politics, religion and road dramatics.. and more on this story.. This is not a road, it is garbage, it's a landmine, it's a road rally, it's a test of your nerves, it's a test of patience, it's a sign of rotting life, it's a sign of nothing… null.. cypher

Cypher

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