The Jungle Traffic

Chetak and me

Chetak is very dear to me. For my sake he fought with the world – got few scars on his face and back. They will be there for life till a surgery is done. For now we are living with the scars – my parents, relatives and friends whoever meets Chetak mocks at them but I just laugh and let them be. 

Chetak is very patient – he doesn’t mind them a bit, them meaning the scars and the comments. Every day we go to office together and till date there has never been a day when Chetak has not accompanied me back home from office . He has accompanied me to the malls too without any complains and despite the fact that I have treated him badly sometimes, he is still the same. Chetak- my first car, white i-10, we have so many journeys traveled together. The most eventful being the jungle ride which we go through every day.

When I start 

Gaddi Jaandi Aa Chhalaanga Maardi.................

Fox

As soon as we step out of the house we see some black and yellow Lomdi (foxes)running around at full speed. They have no sense of direction and will put in their pointed face anywhere they find some place. They compete with 2 legged rats that

2 Legged Rat

run around at atomic speed. When Chetak and me try taking a left  suddenly a rat jumps on us from nowhere and before we gain balance from the rat attack , a fox barges in “beep….beeep.beeeeepppp” . Generally I tell Chetak to slow down and even stop sometimes because I don’t want to run in the rat-race, the fox will then show me his eyes as if trying to scare me and say “what the hell are you doing in my way”.

Snail

Some snails drag themselves on the side pathway – walking at their ownpace,stopping now and then to talk to their friends. Sometimes they have a tough time trying to go to the other side of the road.

Elephant

Sometimes I also see elephants in the jungle. They go at their own speed and they never give way to me. It doesn’t matter how much I honk they will ignore it and continue going their way. At some places I see herds of elephant also where 3-4 of them are competing with each other . Everyone prefers to stay at the back when they are competing because you never know which angry elephant might come and hit you.

Veggie Dinosaur

In this amazing jungle there are dinosaurs too. 

The vegetarian dinosaur - are very friendly. They carry oil and diesel with them and peacefully following all rules of traffic in the jungle. 

Non Veggie Dinosaur

Then you have the non-veg dinosaur of different sizes. They generally carry stones, furniture items, sand, wood with them. They come howling behind you and even if you have not done anything wrong they will not forgive you – they will eat you up.

Sometimes we meet big fat lazy cats – they are private cats , they go at their

Big Fat Cat - The SUVs

own speed on their private limited roads as if they own the roads and belong to the royal ancestors of the jungle. The rats and foxes don’t spare the royal crowd also. They try to find place in between the “Shaahi Sawari” but the size of the Sawari generally deters them from poking around. So they come back to Chetak and me and others like us where they can show their supremacy by honking and poking their nose.

Chetak ‘s height is not so good. And me being tall he looks even shorter so my friends and family told me that I should have chosen someone tall and sturdy – so that it looks good when he walks with me. But there are many advantages of having Chetak – Being short and small he cuts across many places very easily , doesn’t have to go back and forth when making a U turn. While I was taking a U turn with Chetak, it doesn’t matter how many indicators (warnings) I give to other animals to stay away, a fox from the left will overtake me and a rat will appear on the right side. On Honking they

"What are you doing ? No traffic sense"

show me eyes again. While I try to shoo them away vigorously moving my hand from inside and shouting at them which only I can hear because the windows are shut – it makes no difference to them and they continue to bully me. Sometimes couple of their friends take advantage of the situation and they also barge in from left and right overtaking me – sometimes Chetak gets angry and we also blindly accelerate to overtake the foxes and rats , other times we just sit back quietly and let them go. Once the jungle is clear we continue again at our peaceful pace. Had Chetak been taller and bigger – the foxes and rats would have stayed away.

Just when we try to speed up and get into the momentum – there comes a red light halt. Just like small children stand obediently in a prayer hall in their own queue – Chetak and me also find a comfortable place to stand in our lane. The elephants , dinosaurs, cheetahs also stand in the line just

Waiting at the traffic signal!!

like us. Then comes a non veg dinosaur from the back – at full speed with no intention to stop. He will keep only an inch gap between chetak and himself , and will push my side view mirror inside. He keeps roaring all the time while he is standing and impatiently waits to run again. The ubiquitous foxes and rats will fit themselves in everywhere they can, making sure no space is left. When I first halted I was the one in the front but after few seconds a non-veg dinosaur , 2 foxes and 5 rats are standing in front of me. As the light grows green, animals behind us start roaring and shouting like crazy. I think this is a Jungle Custom – even though they can see that the animals in the front are moving forward they keep roaring and shouting till they themselves start moving.

Cheetah.....Roooooaaaaarrrr !!

 Just when I think I am ready to pace up – a cheetah steers from behind and zoop it goes past me – giving me jitters . The cheetah wants to maintain his status of being the fastest so many times they don’t even halt at the red light.

Saving ourselves from the jungle atrocities chetak and me finally reach the mall. The parking lot is comfortable, While I shop Chetak sits in the parking lot chatting with his other friends and some fat , lazy cats – while I enjoy myself in the mall.

At then End

Jungle Traffic Ne Chhalni Karta Mera Seena
Marjaaneya, Ajj Mera Jee Karda
Main Rajj Ke RAULA Pauna, Ajj Mera Jee Karda