Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

On road solidarity typical ‘local’ trait

-Photo: G. Krishnaswamy

In sync: Camaradarie among two-wheeler riders is common in city.

HYDERABAD: It was a hot day made hotter by the clichéd ‘bumper-to-bumper’ traffic and the carbon-saturated fumes on the Chaderghat bridge. A nine-year-old pillion-riding a Suzuki Samurai dozed off into a blissful journey of dreams, reposing his faith and weight on his dad’s capacious back.

Suddenly, a slap on the shoulder stopped short of knocking the lad down and jerked him out of the slumber, rebuking him for falling asleep on the scooter. The father looked grateful.

Not an isolated occurrence of this kind, the incident merely establishes how On-the-Road-Solidarity (hereafter mentioned as ORS) saves many a life that would otherwise be snuffed out on the city’s crazy roads.

The subject of caution could be a dangling sari-end, a fluttering scarf, the half-shut door of a four-wheeler, a wobbly tyre or a gaping manhole ahead. More often than not, it could even be the headlights put on in broad daylight, or blinkers lit even after the turn. Everyday, countless lives and limbs are proffered providential extension through alerts about the suspended side stands!

“I must have shouted out about 50 cautions regarding the open side-stands so far. They could result in grisly accidents if touched by the road,” says S.J.Narasimha Rao, a High Court employee. He also admits to having been warned several times, not only about side-stands, but also about several other perils.

By the way, there is a distinct non-verbal signalling of the blinking lights: alternate joining and releasing of the five fingers! What’s more, any lurking policeman down the road with the odious ticket-book would be given away by the road-comrades scurrying unscathed from the cop.

“For reasons best known to them, it is mostly autorickshaw drivers who would warn of a policeman.

It is perhaps the rivalry between the tormentor and the tormented that goads them,” chuckles M. Srinivas, a media professional. On a rainy day, nothing could match the ‘ORS ratings’ of manholes agape.

Most often, it would be two-wheeler riders cautioning pedestrians and occasionally it’s the two-wheeler-to two-wheeler communication.

“Once, I was pillion riding in front of the Chief Minister’s office in a puddle of gushing water. The engine went off and I was about to get down when a fellow rider stopped to shout a warning. Sensing that there could be a manhole, I refrained from the attempt and got saved,” says P.Samatha Rao, a medical transcriptionist.

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