Vehicles, traffic and the rush to get nowhere first.

I've learnt a new way of inculcating the virtue of patience in my life. It's a big time-waster as you will see, but virtually unavoidable too. So I thought, I might as well bring out the best in every situation; something like perceiving the glass half full. Most importantly, you are in the same soup as me. So why not enjoy the taste while we can.

Traffic jams, you will agree with me, are as much a part of life as Emraan Hashmi is of unnecessary kissing scenes. For me, the former being more tolerable. It's something about being a driver that makes us impatient. Nanoseconds matter to an otherwise who-cares-about-time society. Even James Bond would have been put to shame, that's the level of hurry. There's a trend, if you care to pay close attention: anything on less than four wheels will squirm its way ahead even if there's place for just a fly to fart; the others install horns that blast like sirens announcing a world war and get some sadistic pleasure out of it. It follows the unmentioned law that 'the power of the engine is directly proportional to the volume of the horn'.

So what must one do at one of these eternally long outings? Sit back and enjoy the break, thats all. If someone on the road starts using language that explains reproduction in a crude way, smile at him. It takes a lot of frustration off you while insensitively passing it on to the guy. Come to think of it, there's actually no reason to get all worked up. If it can get you anywhere [out of that *#^%*@ place], I'll join you in cursing the sun, moon and potatoes. The other day, there was this one chap who insisted that Manmohan Singh was responsible for the traffic jam, not having acted out his promises for a brighter India. Intelligent stupidity.

It's better than a paid course in anger management, with all those 'son of a gun's trying to curve their way right in front of your vehicle. And when, finally, it's your chance to get to the other side of the junction, the traffic signal goes red in the face. Another long wait, another lung-full of blessed smoke; all this while, motorists are inching ahead as if that gain of one metre would change their life forever. At such times, don't take a deep breath but calm yourself down. Tell your mind it's good that atleast your vehicle didn't ditch you and break down right in the middle of the whole mess. So dwell on the positive aspects of life [and traffic] - it will give you a renewed respect for the not-so-good things that come your way.