Looks like the monsoon decided to swerve off the coast of Mumbai and head west instead.
One look out of my window this morning and I could have been fooled into thinking that it's a mid-July morning in Mumbai. The rain is pelting down and you'd laugh at the fact that they call this 'summer'. (Today's forecast is max 20 deg C and min 11 deg C, with rain.) The red roof tiles of the houses glisten and gleam in the cloudy light, as do the roads. Though unlike Maximum City, the roads don't flood (unless there's a tornado or a typhoon), there are no clogged gutters and the pavements stay clean because there are no makeshift stalls or houses to cause an obstruction. Traffic moves steadily, sometimes piling on the hill, but the signals work, drivers stick to their lanes and yes, nobody honks, even though they get impatient.
ENGLAND'S ROADS
Irrespective of the shortcomings of the people here, there's a lot to be said for the systems that are in place. The attention to detail are amazing. Just take roads for instance - a pet topic with me, so I can't help being fascinated by them. In England, as in most of Europe, they pay a great deal of attention to their roads and motorways. Every road has a name/number and color scheme that figures in the larger scheme of things and is invaluable for mapping. The Motorways, A and B roads, local roads all follow the same code for driving. The lanes are clearly painted (99% of the time) with white lines dividing the lanes. Varying lengths of lines differentiate between changing roads, as on motorways when a turn off or junction is coming up. There are (mostly) clear signs indicating roads, exits, services, again color coded. Pedestrian-safe zones are clearly indicated. Single or double yellow lines clearly tell drivers whether it is ok to park or not. There is no scope for misunderstanding or confusion if you know the rules correctly. And except for inner country roads, where mostly horses still trample, I haven't seen potholes on the major roads yet.
IMAGINE..
I know Mumbai, and India as a whole has a much larger population than England or probably all of Europe put together, but surely that can't be an excuse for not having decent roads? I don't know what they use to make the roads here, but most of the roads are tarred, not concrete. And yet they remain in pristine condition. Somehow, one doesn't imagine contractors and municipal officers taking a cut out of the contract and supplying inferior materials instead. I'm sure there's corruption here too, but somehow it doesn't affect the 'quality' of the roadworks. The attention to detail is impressive and I can only hope that we can emulate it someday.
Imagine a Mumbai with roads that are not dug up, no pot-holes, signals that work automatically and are not manually changed by traffic policemen waiting for their day's cut. Imagine your stress levels plummeting when you step into your vehicle and not hear rabid honking all around you - honking won't get you a foot ahead anyway, but it's an end to boredom. Perhaps it is a cultural thing. Indians don't honk when they come to England; the rules and road etiquette are picked up effortlessly. When in Rome...
It's hard not to wish for an easier life. We all work so hard, whether here or in India and we deserve to have something in return for the billions we pay in taxes each year. Maybe we'll see it happen in my lifetime yet...
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MAXIMUM CITY
Suketu Mehta's acclaimed book on Mumbai was shortlisted for the BBC Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction 2005. Watched the awards ceremony on telly last night. The prize went to Jonathan Coe, for his biography of once famous, now obscure British writer B.S.Johnson.
