Traffic Signal

Today a long half hour at the pipeline signal and having a position somewhere at the end of a very long queue of impatient honking vehicles made my mind rush to the statement made by a sane stranger, though then he wasn't looking so sane to me.

It happened long back, may be eons back and I am not even sure this is what really happened, but this is close to what I can remember.

I was on the way to my office in a bus. I did see a man (usual careless glance) who was sitting to the left where I was standing. I didn't give him much attention.

All of a sudden he asked me.

Njan oru chodyam chodikkatte ???

Lot many things went across my mind. I might have accidentally hit his head when the bus braked. While I was contemplating the possibility of facing a  humiliation before all the passengers he asked me,

Signal palikkatthe nammal poyal entha fine ennu ariyamo ??

What!!!  Enthuva??

May be the question came out all wrong, that wasn’t what he was intending to ask. I was hoping that he might change his question and give me a relatively easy one to answer.
I gave him a questioning gaze.

Signal palikkatthe nammal poyal entha fine ennu ariyamo ??

This time it was out loud. All of the passengers where looking from man to me, me to man, to and fro.  

He looked around and extended the question to all the others. By that time I made a skillful escape from the podium and vanished into the crowd and stood there as a spectator.


Every one in the bus stood there observing him but didn’t dare to respond. An elderly gentleman who was sitting silent till then couldn’t hold it anymore and replied

“Rules are rules we are supposed to follow that.”

Vadi koduthu adi vangal, I can’t put it any better than that. Everyone watched the elderly gentleman getting slaughtered with a reaction mixed with some sympathy and with more than a little enthusiasm I must say. But no one was brave enough to offer any help.

 Then he started giving lectures on problems faced by people due to traffic jam.  There was something about the way he talked, something different from normal; he lectured more to himself and than to others. He was putting forward questions and giving answers himself. In his own way he was emphasizing the uselessness of such a system and ardent need to break it. He went on and on for a while, I had to get down at my stop and I love to believe he might have continued doing the same.

He was more a laughing stock to me then or just a part of an incident which I thought to write down somewhere or even blog. And I must admit he was making more than a valid statement. Now when I think about it I feel there is more to that incident than just his craziness. He might have lost his precious time somewhere in the past before a signal and might be in search for it even now....who knows.. He was just  another commoner who was questioning a totally self absorbed world that is content with whatever it is offered. Moreover it considers them an outcast or even declares them mad. 

I don't remember how he looked nor do I remember his voice but something  remains that always makes its presence felt when the signal turns red.

Note : Image Courtesy http://jerrin-it.blogspot.com/2011/06/tale-of-cawnporia-traffic-signal.html