Idiots on Roads - 13

Roads are so scarce in Bangalore that it is ok to use the pavement as a road. Thus goes the philosophy of these four two-wheeler riders. Look closely and you will see a cross-section of society on these two-wheelers. An IT employee for sure, a lady on a scooter, two gentlemen transporting some material. In short, the abuse of the pavement has been completely internalized by people.

No registration plates. No temporary plates. No dealer tag either. No fear of the law either.

© 2013, Abhinav Agarwal (अभिनव अग्रवाल). All rights reserved.

Bus, Passengers, and God

In God We Trust.
You know, no commentary is required here. Just the words, "Ram bharose".

© 2013, Abhinav Agarwal (अभिनव अग्रवाल). All rights reserved.

Idiots On Roads - 12

I present to you an idiot on a pavement. The motorcyclist at the left of the photo, sir, is an idiot.
For several reasons.
Let's examine those reasons.
Firstly, he is on the wrong side of the road. Actually he is more than just on the wrong side of the road, but let's at least establish that he is on the wrong side of the road, to begin with.

Secondly, there is not much traffic on either side of the road, is there? Not that traffic congestion should be a reason to break traffic rules, but at least you could that out as a mitigating factor in those conditions. Understandable, if still not acceptable.

Thirdly, because he has chosen to use the pavement for driving. Not the road. Not even the wrong side of the road. He is driving on the pavement, on the wrong side of the road.

Fourthly, because he is on the pavement, the lady in the yellow sari has to walk on the road. It is a testament to the infinite patience and fortitude of the forlorn pavement trodder who has to keep his or her eyes on not only the pavement to watch out for uncovered manholes and potholes and gaps in the pavement, but also on vehicles on the pavement. All in a day's work. Inconsiderate idiot.

Why is he on the pavement? Well, he did not want to go to the other side of the road, drive up, then take a U-turn to come back on to this road. So much easier to simply take a turn on to the wrong side of the road, and the ride up the pavement for convenience.

Fifthly, he is driving without a helmet. It should not matter, since the helmet would be on a head that has long since stopped working to figure out what is right and what is wrong.

It only makes you wonder in what else walks of life he has internalized the philosophy of such shortcuts. At his job? In his friendships? In his relationships?

To say it using the words from the greatest movie of all time - Sholay: "khota sikka to dono taraf se hi khota hota hai." (खोटा सिक्का तो दोनो  तरफ़ से ही खोटा होता है )

© 2011, Abhinav Agarwal. All rights reserved.

Idiots on Roads - 11

Underground, basement parking lots command a premium for slots that are close to the elevator lobby. The premium is not defined in terms of price, rather for the convenience they afford. The early bird to the office is often rewarded by less time spent in foraging for a convenient parking slot, car slowed to a crawl and the eyes doing full aisle scans in a matter of seconds.

This is a photo I shot at the parking lot of a large office building in Bangalore.

See how this genius has chosen to park his ride. Neatly between the two lines, but straddling two parking slots. It is not possible for any other car to park in either of those slots. People coming in later that morning to the office would see an empty space, drive their car to the spot, only to see that this genius had wasted a parking spot.

Whatever possessed him to act like an idiot? Did he not realize that he was in-between two spots? Or did he think he was affording extra protection to his car by so parking it?
These parking spots are large enough for most Indian sedans. The car here is a Maruti Alto, which is one of the most compact hatchbacks on Indian roads. It can fit comfortably in one parking slot. The only conclusion I can draw is that this, gentlemen, is an idiot. Suffering from temporary idiocy perhaps, or he was in a hurry perhaps. Whatever the reason, the end-result is he looks like an idiot.

© 2011, Abhinav Agarwal. All rights reserved.

Idiots on roads - 9

Think about it. With both hands full with holding these boxes, what options does this pillion rider have should the moped skid or lose control, or even have to brake suddenly? Either the pillion rider chooses to keep holding on to the boxes, and risks hurting himself seriously, or he lets go of the boxes and uses his now free hands to brace himself for the impact. In which case the boxes fly loose on the road, risking other motorists. If holding one box of what looks like apparel from Proline in each  hand is not enough, this genius has gone ahead and placed two boxes on his left thigh. On the other hand, you have admire the guy's seeming nonchalance.

© 2011, Abhinav Agarwal. All rights reserved.

Idiots on Roads - 8

I shot this photo on NH67 (NHAI website, Wikipedia link), some 10 kms from the historic town of Thanjavur (Tanjore) in Tamil Nadu.
Look at this photo. This is a four-lane national highway. Beautiful road. Recently four-laned. Allows you to zip between the two towns of Tricy and Thanjavur in less than an hour.
Not much traffic on it. Breaks in the median to allow for traffic to cross over at short distances.
There is really no freaking reason for someone to drive on the freaking wrong side of the road. Not with his wife. And certainly not with a small baby riding pillion. And not in the freaking fast lane. Look at the truck on the OTHER side of the road, which is driving on the CORRECT side of the road. So why is this freaking idiot endangering his life, his wife's, his child's, and that of other people actually following the rules of the road?
The inescapable reason, I deduce Watson, is because he is an idiot.

This is a zoomed out shot of the photo above. Sigh. Sigh. Sigh.

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© 2011, Abhinav Agarwal. All rights reserved.

Idiots on roads - 7

This photo sends a chill down my spine whenever I look at it. So I choose not to look at it, mostly. I spotted these mangled remains of the car in 2004, while on Bannerghatta Road on some shopping errand. What got the goosebumps to bump up was seeing that the front of the car had been so completely mangled up, like it had been run through some giant pounding machine. I can only imagine with dread the accident that would have caused a sturdy car like the Ambassador (Wikipedia link) to be so crushed and mangled. And what about the driver and occupants? Chances of anyone surviving such a horrific accident are slim, to say the least.

So who are the idiots here? Knowing how accidents happen on Indian roads, one can surmise the possible candidates:

• Speeding. By someone.
• Drunk driving.
• Driving on the wrong side of the road.
• Running an intersection at high speed. This crash looks more like a side impact, judging by the second photo, so a severe side-swipe cannot be ruled out.
• Driver falling asleep.
• Slippery road conditions.
• Mechanical failure.
• Animals on road, causing the driver to lose control or hit an animal that sends the car careening out of control.

Take your pick. There may or may not have been an idiot here, but chances that one or more were indeed involved.

The light brown facade in the background is that of an apartment complex - Mantri Paradise I believe. There is a "Fabmall" department store also visible in the background. The chain went bust a few years ago, and was bought over by the Aditya Birla Group and rebranded as "More".

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© 2011, Abhinav Agarwal. All rights reserved.

Idiots on roads - 6

This photo was taken more than seven years ago, in 2003, in Bangalore. A city as large as Bangalore, with as many vehicles as in Bangalore, is bound to throw up opportunities for such photos on roads.

In this photo though, I am not sure who the idiot is. There are several candidates here. And I will attempt to enumerate these worthy candidates.

1. The truck driver, who may have been tired, lazy, driving rashly, or for some other reason...
2. The civic authorities, who choose to dig up roads, for mostly no apparent reason, then leave these roads dug up for months on end, and when they do fill up these trenches do not properly asphalt them, precipitating such accidents.
3. Telecom or the electricity supply company or the water supply board or some other distinguished civic or private body. Private telecom companies are notorious for digging up roads without authorizations, for using sewage pipes for laying fibre optic cables, and more.
4. Some other careless driver that precipitated this accident.


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Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us)

© 2011, Abhinav Agarwal. All rights reserved.

Idiots on roads - 5

The expression of the person sitting in a yogic posture atop the automotive contraption seems far removed from the happenings around him. The cover of the engine seems to have come left the the contraption sometime during the Quit India movement, while the doors look like they were optional accessories never availed of by the owner. The tires are as bald as Shetty's pate. The place is somewhere near Pataudi, which is somewhat between Gurgaon and Rewari.

© 2011, Abhinav Agarwal. All rights reserved.

Idiots on roads - 4

Not one but two idiots. In the North Indian city of Gurgaon, shot in 2003. Standing behind an autorickshaw, on top of what seems to be a reinforced rear bumper, these two idiots would look resplendent and regal were they dressed in military uniform, standing on top of a jeep's rear fender. The gentleman on the left seems to have reasonably starched white pants, and black boots. Pity. So near yet so far.

By the way - can you spot the license plate on this vehicle?

© 2011, Abhinav Agarwal. All rights reserved.

Idiots on roads - 3

Straight off the bat, without even describing this photo, let me tell you there are two idiots in this photo. One you see, the other you don't. The other idiot you don't see in this photo would be me, who took this photo.
So, where is this photo from? This is from highway NH206, to Jog Falls. The Mahindra Bolero here (I think it is a Bolero) is being used as a taxi. The genius riding half in, half out, or actually mostly out, is likely an employee for the taxi operator. He has probably done this a thousand times before, this riding in this manner with the vehicle. I don't need to elaborate why I think he is an idiot.

Why am I an idiot? Well, several reasons. Because I am operating a camera while driving. While driving on a highway. Driving so close to this idiot on a car that if he were to slip, well... the end-results would be messy.

© 2011, Abhinav Agarwal. All rights reserved.

Idiots of Roads - 2

This is NH7, and that on the road is an idiot. He is an idiot because he is driving on the wrong side of the road. He is an idiot because he has a pillion rider with him who is also an idiot. The pillion rider is an idiot because he chooses to ride pillion with an idiot. The third reason he is an idiot is because he is not wearing a helmet.

© 2010, Abhinav Agarwal. All rights reserved.

Idiots on roads - 1

See this?
This is NH7, National Highway 7 (National Highway 7 (India) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia), and I shot this photo near Hosur Road, as the sun was setting over the horizon.

Cutting corners to save time is so much a habit on highways that drivers don't even think twice about driving on the wrong side of the road. Not just a road, a freaking national highway!!! He is being considerate, or so he thinks, by driving partly on the shoulder, and also has his truck's headlights on. We should be thankful, right? This type of idiotic driving is the reason why one cannot drive on highways without keeping a paranoid eye peeled for trucks and buses and cars and tractors and bicycles and people and cows and goats and more that are either trying to cross the road or coming straight AT YOU.

All posts tagged with the label NH7.
Yercaud - The Drive
To Pondicherry


© 2010, Abhinav Agarwal. All rights reserved.

Sex and advertising

Sex in advertising - Sometime last year in September 2005 I had posted a photo on sex in advertising Sex in Advertising, where I posted the "before" photos. I realized I never posted the after photo. Here it is. The entire campaign was for a fitness gym. Go figure.

© 2006, Abhinav Agarwal (अभिनव अग्रवाल). All rights reserved. (Posted to this blog 2013)

Praful Bidwai, the idiot

I have a deep dislike for people who make a career out of disparaging India, its achievements, its heritage, culture, and history. Especially when those people are Indians. It makes you wonder just what is wrong with these people that they hate their own country so deeply. Just how much poison is there that is running in place of blood in their bodies that they make a career out of running down your own country in front of the whole world (it would be equally reprehensible to do it in private also).

Praful Bidwai (Wikipedia), by all indications and his protestations to the contrary notwithstanding, seems to be one of those people. Now there are few things more distasteful than actually sitting down and reading his columns, but I actually did that, and here is a sampling of his writings. They go beyond, far beyond the limits of what could be considered as taking a contrarian view, of providing healthy criticism, that is so important in a democracy. His focus is obsessively on those things that can be used to run down India, its achievements, belittle its achievers, be they in the sphere of IT or other spheres of life.

• He claims that the BJP was not a national party because it won less than a third of the seats in Parliament. Nowhere is he willing to accord the same status to the Congress, which also won less than a third of the seats in parliament in the 2004 general elections.
• At the drop of a hat he labels the Shiv Sena as a fascist party. While I do not have too many problems with that labelling as I think the Shiv Sena is a ridiculous party of basically chauvinist good-for-nothings, what I would love to see this champion of India to the Muslim League a fascist party. Or such bigots as Banatwalla as traitors. Not a chance.
• When historical , literary, and basic archaelogical evidence pointed out to the existence of a temple under the Babri Masjid, the likes of Praful Bidwai were quick to whitewash such evidence as fabrications of a lunatic right-wing. When surveys ordered by the Supreme Court turned up conclusive evidence of the existence of a temple where the Babri Masjid had existed, he labelled the exercise as 'voodoo archaelogy'. Talk about name calling out of spite. Classic communist propoganda: when you can't fight facts, malign the person and everyone who associates with the person or the facts. Actually, Goebbels (link to Wikipedia) perfected the art of propaganda, and the communists in India seemingly take him to be their idol.
• It is a well known and documented fact that West Bengal is a state that encourages and witnesses huge illegal immigration from Bangaldesh. Most of the times it is with the active connivance and even participation of the communist parties' rank and file cardre. This has serious implications for the national security of India. I would love to hear Bidwai condemn the Left government in West Bengal (after all, haven't they been ruling the state for decades?) in much the same words he condemned the Maharashtra government when it tried to deport a few dozen illegal Bangladeshis from its state.
• He had a ton of hatred for the BJP and Hindutva and the Gujarat riots. The Gujarat riots were shameful on two counts: the fact that a crime of such horrific proportions as the burning of innocent women and children at Godhra could happen, and the fact that the riots that broke out after that. Interesting... Did he have anything similar to say when Hindus were hacked to death in Kerala in a calculated move by some people to instigate communal riots in the state? Or when the Congress party and its beloved leader, Rajiv Gandhi, oversaw the systematic murder of thousands of Sikhs in the country? Or the fact that every politician associated with that act of inhumanity got rewarded by ministerial posts in the Congress government for years to come? Does he even bother to remember the now infamous phrase that went something like 'when a tree falls...'?
• When Bidwai talks about the 'detoxification' of the educational institutions, does he care to comment on the venality and corruption of communist historians like Irfan Habib (who acted as the PhD guide for a student who copied, word for word, the work of another historian and passed it on as his own), Romila Thapar (who can't read a word of Sanskrit yet acts as an expert on ancient Indian history), Panicker (who took lakhs and lakhs of money for research that he never conducted or submitted to the government), and more. All of these historians have over decades, implanted them inside all government supported educational and cultural institutions, propped each other up to create a clique, took money from the government for research they never conducted, outputted work of egregious quality, and yet trumpet themselves as 'historians'.
• It speaks immensely of Bidwai's abilities or lack of them in judging character that he praised Natwar Singh as a man with strong non-aligned perspectives. Hmm.. the only thing he was non-aligned was on where he took money from. Remember the oil for money scam where he proclaimed indgnantly that he N-E-V-E-R took money? Maybe Bidwai and his ilk's motto seems to be, 'theives of the world unite!'
• He stated that Arafat had 'never been an obstacle to peace, rather a precondition for it'. Hmm... does anyone remember that when Israelis offered the Palestinians 94% of the land that they had demanded and compensation for the rest, Arafat had rejected it with enough venom and idiocy to rival Bidwai himself. And that almost every commentator the world over had started stating that Arafat had become the biggest towards peace in the region. Not to mention that Arafat was also accused of embezzling funds that his organization received as donations towards the 'Intifada', and Arafat's personal fortune was estimated at hundreds of millions of dollars. So much for Bidwai's acuity of perception.
• Bidwai's manic delusions reach epic proportions when he claims that the the Left has made 'historic contributions to building institutions and values that even the liberals cherish...'. Hmm... venality, corruption, fascination with everything un-Indian, collaboration with the British against the Congress during the freedom movement, calling Subhash Chandra Bose as the 'running dog of the imperialists', calling Mahatma Gandhi as the 'worst force in Indian politics today', taking money from the Soviets during the socialist era... Yes, these are historical contributions, but not quite the same kind as Bidwai would like to remember them as.

Finally, one may say that the treachery of the communists does in no way lessen the crime of others. True, very true. And I am all for punishing all those who cheat and steal from India. And every single thief punished is a thief reduced from society. In that spirit, can we start with detoxifying India of communists? That will be like eliminating in one fell swoop the biggest cancer that has afflicted India for decades now. Then go on to such creatures as Deve Gowda, Mayawati, Laloo Prasad, Mayawati, Sonia Gandhi, Shiv Sena, and all those Congress and BJP MPs that took money to pose questions in Parliament? It may mean sending to prison almost all our elected MPs and MLAs, but it would be a start... Then there are the esteemed IAS, IPS, IFS, IRS, and other equally distinguished bureaucrats. Tens of thousands of such people would need to be sent for the rest of their natural lives to prison for the tens of thousands of crore rupees that this breed has siphoned away for decades.

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© 2006, Abhinav Agarwal. All rights reserved. Reposted to this blog, Oct 2011.