Travel..Traffic..Torture

Its 5.50 P.M on a cloudy Friday evening in the cyber city of incredible India. As I pack my bag, my colleagues sitting around give a ‘how the beeep you leave so early’ kind of a look but still manage to wish me a happy weekend with a smile on their face. My journey from Gurgaon to Noida, a breathtaking 50 kms long bumpy ride starts now. The travel is as smooth as the unwaxed hands of Kim Sharma!

As I walk out of my office, my tired eyes start searching for the bus with the number 23 written on its forehead. After a lot of honking, traffic policemen waving hands, drivers cursing others mothers and sisters, my bus finally arrives in a rather unwilling way. This journey is long enough to make Ekta Kapoor`s serials seem like ending in few minutes.

This journey can last anywhere from two hours to a good seven hours depending on the traffic state of 3 cities- Gurgaon, Delhi and Noida. If you are so lucky that you can walk blindfolded on a flyway without getting knocked over, the journey may end in less than two hours. Today the traffic seems to be as usual; long array of cars lining one behind the other eagerly waiting for the signal to turn green, killer DTC buses zooming past all other vehicles, autowalas attempting various stunts to impress the hot girl sitting behind them and in the midst of all these, bikers trying to find the narrowest gap between two vehicles to move their bikes ahead thinking themselves as Batman, out on a mission to save this planet.

Every weekday I spend so much time in this bus doing nothing. Not that I am as busy Mukesh Ambani but, I feel this time could have been used more productively like sleeping or watching FTV or roaming in malls to look for what every male species of homo-sapiens looks at.

But… things are really not as bad as they look. When other people get frustrated in these annoying traffic jams, I lay on my seat, absolutely calm, composed not at all moved by these disturbances. Be it the boring microcontroller classes during my college days, or a day long travel in trains, I have been gifted with tremendous powers. By this, my patience is like the Australian Cricket team, seldom faces defeat. This gift is the most beautiful five letter word in English which is called 'sleep'. I now shut my eyes, take a deep breath and exercise this gift. And if you have fallen asleep by the time you finish reading this post… dude you are gifted like me!!