It was a usual traffic jam near Sector 15 in Noida. The peak hours, both in the morning and evening, witness such traffic jams here. There is always some or other road construction work that is going on in this stretch of the road. But I am not here to complain about those traffic jams. It is about a pleasant scene that I saw yesterday.
I was waiting for brother to pick me up for the return journey, when a bullock cart wallah stopped near me. He got down to purchase bidi (desi cigarettes) at a stall behind me. In the meanwhile, the traffic jam was getting worse – vehicles were moving at a snail pace from over a kilometre before the traffic-light. And while the driver was busy talking to the vendor, the animal carted the vehicle to a place in the traffic jam (So smart. He knew that it’s better to keep moving in a traffic jam than to stand at one place). The driver knew this and let the animal take care of the traffic while he relaxed on the pavement.
Talking about animals and roads, I would also like to talk about dogs and cows and how well they cross roads. I won’t say that they know of the traffic lights, but they know when to move and when to stop. They will not move until there is a single vehicle on road. However, at times they are caught off guard and get killed in the process. Recently, I saw a male cat lying dead on the outer stretch of Lal Quila.
However, there are some animals that dread roads and even vehicles, the roadside dogs for instance. Brownie would hide in staircases whenever there was a speeding vehicle coming by. On the other hand, there was Hunter who had taken up the role of a traffic police, keeping a check on speed. Not any vehicle can move at a speed more than what was prescribed by Hunter. And when once a person dared to speed by Hunter, he found himself in a drain with hunter on his chest. Lemme tell you the story.
There was a new guy who had come to our colony. And he soon got the nickname Hero because he loved to ride his scooter at the maximum speed; until one day when Hunter spotted him. People warned him not to rush, but wo to aadat se majboor tha (couldn’t have helped because of his habit). Hunter ran after him when he sped in his scooter. He was soon at his legs. Before he could have known how to react, he lost balance and was in the drain on the other side of the road with Hunter at his chest. Thankfully, the dog spared him anymore pains.
Talking about Hunter and I would like to talk about his progeny, but some other time. There are many stories related to them. He stayed in our locality for some ten years. And I always forget to write something on Tiger, our pet dog, who stayed with us since childhood, and when he died everyone was crying, even father.
ItyaAdi 