There are some rules for traffic which one should know and follow religiously, to - at least - get the license to drive on the road. And then there are some golden rules that supersede these rules, in Bangalore as in RoI, which give you license to thrill!! With India doing relatively well Down Under, I thought jotting down these golden rules as cricket metaphors would be readable, to say the least:
1. Exposed leg stump rule:
India, being an ex-British colony drives on the left hand side of the road, which logically means that one should overtake slower moving vehicles from right. Now that is what the traffic rule says but do we actually care for that? In Bangalore, people with bigger vehicles (with ego as big as their vehicles), try overtaking all and sundry - be it equally big vehicles, trucks or that ubiquitous cool guy (cow), chewing cud with attitude. In this act of superiority these vehicles tend to go so far on the right that they leave lotsa space on their left. It is this space - can be visualized as a shuffling batsman who has exposed his leg stump - that churlish bikers, like us, make use of, to bowl them around their legs, in other words, overtake them from left.
Callous, dangerous but fun!!
2. Benefit of doubt:
While riding/driving keep an eye on the footpath, by-lanes and of course road. That is but obvious isn't it? But this is important in Bangalore since if there is a meandering vehicle on the road, it is your duty to give him the right of passage. Bikes coming out of by-lanes irrespective of the direction of traffic on the main road, people on the footpath - all eager to jump on the road, auto rickshaws - even more eager to take a U-turn, animals roaming on the side lanes - all of them have to be given right of passage. The benefit of doubt in all the aforementioned cases goes of course not to the player (that is you) but to quote Ravi Shastri - these slippery customers.
3. Speed breaker:
Another overtaking tip! If there is a speed breaker it is meant for the smaller/slower vehicles to overtake the larger ones. Bigger vehicles, for the love of their axles, will slow down at speed breakers (hence the term) and in turn either expose their leg stump (a la 1), or try to make space for that lofted drive on the off-side. And this, my friend, is your moment where you can pitch in a yorker/skidder and run past the humongous vehicles.
How to remain ahead after overtaking and not giving side to irritating/honking vehicles will all be in another bestseller (not started working on it yet!) : Bang-galore and the art of Motorcycling!
1. Exposed leg stump rule:
India, being an ex-British colony drives on the left hand side of the road, which logically means that one should overtake slower moving vehicles from right. Now that is what the traffic rule says but do we actually care for that? In Bangalore, people with bigger vehicles (with ego as big as their vehicles), try overtaking all and sundry - be it equally big vehicles, trucks or that ubiquitous cool guy (cow), chewing cud with attitude. In this act of superiority these vehicles tend to go so far on the right that they leave lotsa space on their left. It is this space - can be visualized as a shuffling batsman who has exposed his leg stump - that churlish bikers, like us, make use of, to bowl them around their legs, in other words, overtake them from left.
Callous, dangerous but fun!!
2. Benefit of doubt:
While riding/driving keep an eye on the footpath, by-lanes and of course road. That is but obvious isn't it? But this is important in Bangalore since if there is a meandering vehicle on the road, it is your duty to give him the right of passage. Bikes coming out of by-lanes irrespective of the direction of traffic on the main road, people on the footpath - all eager to jump on the road, auto rickshaws - even more eager to take a U-turn, animals roaming on the side lanes - all of them have to be given right of passage. The benefit of doubt in all the aforementioned cases goes of course not to the player (that is you) but to quote Ravi Shastri - these slippery customers.
3. Speed breaker:
Another overtaking tip! If there is a speed breaker it is meant for the smaller/slower vehicles to overtake the larger ones. Bigger vehicles, for the love of their axles, will slow down at speed breakers (hence the term) and in turn either expose their leg stump (a la 1), or try to make space for that lofted drive on the off-side. And this, my friend, is your moment where you can pitch in a yorker/skidder and run past the humongous vehicles.
How to remain ahead after overtaking and not giving side to irritating/honking vehicles will all be in another bestseller (not started working on it yet!) : Bang-galore and the art of Motorcycling!
