The Kamaraj Salai

1645hrs. The sun is already a tired lot, wants to move off the scene. The closest star to our planet has already started turning red. It is winter, though it does not make much difference in this earstwhile French Colony called Pondicherry. 1645hrs. This is the time I start shivering, my heart beat goes up, my blood pressure rises above normal . I look so frail. Within five minutes from now, I have to cross Kamaraj Salai (Kamaraj Road) to collect my son. The school bus reaches anytime after 5pm but the dutiful parents are in attention on the other side of the busiest road in Pondicherry.
 

The Kamaraj Road

I have to cross the busiest road in Pondicherry at 1650hrs. Motor bikes, lady's tiny bikes, cars of various brands, and autorikshaws run on this road like a powerful stream of water. There will be no break. The men and women at the handle or the wheel are always in a hurry. (Perhaps most of them are rushing to participate rallies against corruption and seminars on how to improve discipline and good conduct of the citizens) They can't wait for anything.  Not the least for a pedestrian.Motorists seem to believe that pedestrians have no business on the road. May be true. With the advent of liberalization of many things including economy, it became so easy to own a vehicle. The dwindling species of walkers are left at the mercy of these proud speedsters.
 

It will be a distortion of fact if I say the traffic on Kamaraj road is non-stop. Of course, there will be breaks, but it needs good skills to see it. One must definitely have a sharp analytical mind to identify a gap and act swiftly. The break may be for a fraction of a second. We must find ourselves at the middle of the road in this split second. Never loose your nerves. Bikes may whiz past the beleagured pedestrian like rockets, autorikshaws may approach menacingly. He/she has to face it. Ultimately, it is important to get to the other side. Our survival instict plays the most when we need it the most.
 

I could see a few homeless dogs (I hate to use the term street dogs) also trying to cross this road. It is quiet amazing to watch them crossing the road with dexterity. They run while sighting a gap in the vehicle movement. I believe these mongrels show better road sense. Perhaps it is the necessity to reach out to the trash-cans that make them so brave on the road.
 

Kamaraj Road is just 20 meters away from my Pondicherry resisdence. The traffic on this road is like a hell. Even in the mid night, the honking sound of the vehicles is audible at our home. Even as I type this, the unscrupulous motorists running amock with their one hand always pressed at the horn is happening right over there. The honking noise is definitely much higher than the noise limit prescribed for our ears. But nobody stops from this habit. In a busy road, is it really required to honk? Will anyone give way simply because the other one behind is in greater urgency? Driving or riding with adrinalin at its peak in the veins is creating havoc on this road. Pedestrians that include school chidren baer the brunt of this recklessness. Sadly no one controls this. Mad world, mad motorists...

Pondicherry is a cute little city. A big town is the correct term to describe this place. There is a part near the Bay of Bengal sea which is nicely constructed by the French colonialists. This is nice area and is being maintained as such even now. The buildings are constructed in French architecture. If we happen to be in this locality, we get a feeling that we are somewhere in a small town of France. Of course, we will be constantly reminded by the speedy noisy vehicles that we are right inside the Mahan Bharat.

The French part of Pondicherry

The street names in French

On one end of the Kamaraj Road there stands a huge statue of Rajiv Gandhi. He stands at the middle of the junction where five roads meet. This is the junction at which both the raods from Chennai to Pondicherry meet. The East Coast Road from Chennai to Pondicherry takes nearly 3 hours by car and the National Highway takes the same duration but the journey along the highway seems to be more comfortable. These roads are of international standards - the roads are, but not the users, sadly!

JN Street- Half of the raod is meant for parking

The other end of Kamaraj Road is the begining of Jawaharlal Nehru street ( if you go in another direction, you will come across Rajiv Gandi Hospital and a little farter, the landmark Indira Gandhi statue). JN Street is the busiest commercial street in Pondicherry. Several cloth shops and way side vendors do brisk business on this street. At any given time, this street will be full of people and vehicles. Thick dust and smoke is omnipresent here too and any part of Puducherry for that matter is no exemption to this.

 It is high time we ushered in Western Culture to our society. It is not all about jeans and tops, excuse me and sorry and dating. They have a better disciplined way of life. They have better patience and care for others when they use the roads. Their vehicles are much less polluting. Their driving licencing system is very very stringent. Vehicle inspectors, Road Transport Officers and Traffic police are much more honest than ours. Perhaps our system can never stand anywhere near theirs. Above all they understand the use of Zebra Crossings. Any takers for the Western Culture please?

 

 Kamaraj was a great politician and Chief Minister of a Congress government in Tamil Nadu. He was a social reformer and a pro-poor social worker.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K._Kamaraj
 

The road named after a great human being is one of the worst roads in our country. To top it all, starting from Singam Wines, an uncountable number of liquor shops are lined up on both sides of this road. Our country cannot offer a tribute more apt than this to one of her illustrious sons....


The Rajiv Gandi Women and Children Hospital



Pondicherry Baech