Do the Walk

There are certain things that are universal in this world, regardless of country, race, ethnicity etc etc. One of them, as those of you who have been following my GTalk status messages may know, is the slow torture that is examination time.

The second I have observed, and perhaps not as profound as the first yet undeniably critical to our lives, is the tendency of pedestrians the world over to ignore signals and walk when possible.

Flashback: I recall the Bombay Police trying very hard to get pedestrians (the huge swarms of them) to use the Churchgate subway during peak hours. It was horribly annoying because the subway is terribly under-ventilated, full of aromas (no sarcasm) and usually overcrowded. In fact, I would have absolutely nothing to do with the subway if it wasn't for the photo studio who got me a passport photo briskly in a time of need...and the Jumbo Vada Pav guy...and the sandwich and bhel guys all supplying sustenance...and the...uhmm - never mind the last one (congratulations to KSR on his job). The key was that people don't like being directed and told where to walk (or walk under). The moment the Police stopped wasting their manpower on stopping pedestrians from wandering across the road and disrupting traffic - back they came!! And that included me.

You can then understand my trepidation as I crossed the proverbial seas and moved from the land of the truly free (ala Bombay or even Delhi - mostly Bombay) to NY, having to contemplate waiting endlessly on one side of a zebra crossing in the hope that the traffic authorities have been considerate enough to plan a 30 second duration over a 3 minute one for the vehicular signals.

Then we switch. I come to the land of the allegedly free and as it turns out, the jaywalking clampdown curse goes the other way (or nearly - to Delhi, not Bombay. See here). I was happy to be corrected in my premise that the roads of NY would merely be for the allegedly free. It turns out that the average New Yorker is truly free and happy to cross a road as and when circumstances permit or the need arises, as the case may be.

This is not, however, true of the average Cambridge'ite (of MA fame - not the University) or Berkeley'ite (of the University fame) seeing as Anna, AD and I we hung around a signal on the banks of Charles for an eternity as we waited for the signals to switch. I am rarely seen waiting for the signals to change in NY as are few New Yorkers. One does tend to get bullied into these moments of inactivity, particularly by those of an advanced age.

To be perfectly honest, I must now transfer the title of the allegedly free city to London where, as I recall from my 'brief' visits there, one had to wait for the noisy pedestrian signals (visually challenged friendly - also the reason for the talking lifts. See this post for that reference) to commence their noise-making activities before accessing the opposite side of a zebra crossing.

Cant you see Im easily bothered by persistence
One step from lashing out at you
You want in to get under my skin
And call yourself a friend
I've got more friends like you
What do I do?

Is there no standard anymore?
What it takes, who I am, where I've been
Belong
You cant be something you're not
Be yourself, by yourself, stay away from me
A lesson learned in life
Known from the dawn of time

Respect, walk

-Walk by Pantera