Jaywalkers Ahoy!

Welcome to Pune,jaywalking capital of the world.



I left my native nashik for this beautiful city of Pune,some 13 years ago.I fell for the city within days of moving here,but one thing always struck me,pedestrians are a scary beast in this city.Scary.


Where I came from,there was at least a semblance of planning that had gone into building the roads.Here,everyone walks everywhere.There is no use of a zebra crossing,because in some places there isn't any painted on the road,and in some,the vehicles often cross these when halting.But the biggest worry is the people themselves.An average puneite loses a month's supply of adrenaline everyday,crossing Roads(Study conducted by me,on myself.).He has no fear of the oncoming traffic banging him out of the way.

Every stratum of the human age-graph has a different way of dealing with the traffic in Pune,while crossing the road.Zebra Crossing,or not.

Kids: Fetching the cricket ball from the other side of the road is more important than waiting for that huge truck to go by.Just run through,the truck will stop on it's own accord (with a mildly palpitating driver).No harm done

Men : Take a quick look,and blaze through across.In case of a close shave,just shrug,give the driver a sly wink and move on.If the matter comes to blows,use your colorful vocabulary and pray that the vehicles behind will honk your adversary into moving on.

Ladies : Really,there is no need to stop talking on the mobile phone.The young dude hurtling towards you on his bike has nothing over gossiping about your balding neighbor's wig.If anything untoward happens,just show the dude your sandals,mouth a couple of mild obscenities and continue the phone conversation.

Senior Citizens: These people are the most interesting types of jaywalkers,with a unique style.You can go anywhere in Pune,It won't be long before you meet the jolly ol' grandpa crossing the road on peak traffic hour.I know it must be difficult but it's quite a skill to dive headlong into the traffic with arms raised,neo style.



If I have to be fair to the pedestrians,traffic snarls in pune have been a regular occurence,with old vehicles,new drivers and generally unmotorable roads. That argument is now old.Over the last couple of years the civic administration of Pune has done a pretty good job in tackling these problems.Now the problem is that people have grown so accustomed to just blindly cross the roads anywhere,they don't want to use proper avenues like the crossroads or subways even where available,Making Pune,the Jaywalking Capital of the world.

Welcome!

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