Crazy Dhaka: Crazy Driving
Dhaka is a ’southasian’ frenzy. Crossing the streets here is like marching into the frontline. I have been here for 5 days and believe me you don’t want to be on the roads with these crazy drivers plying in the streets, which I should add are now flooded till waist level at various areas of the capital city Dhaka making the already tense situation more worse as the monsoon says hello a little too early and yeah, the budget has been released which seems is not at all helping as businesses around have already hiked the prices, which as per the governing system should be effective from nect month only. And there are news about politicians being arrested and journalists getting ahem! ‘letters’ from the Guess who – the caretaker government. what the …
The colourful rickshaws with their not so hospitable drivers have been the rescue of the current Dhaka mire but the rates can fluctuate between 30 to even 50 for a ride which normally costs around 20 Tk or less, say 15 (Bangladesh currency) for the distance I travel everyday from my apartment to work. And yeah, these rickshaw drivers are the forefront in the action while the gas operated cabs and tempos (locally known as CNG) share nasty greetings with the huge buses and private vehicles and they honk like nothing. with citizens like these, the streets are a dread and the caretaker traffic blows the whistle while he sways the stick he carries. what the hell is that stick for anyways. to thrash them?
I have to say that it’s as bad in Kathmandu too. I mean hit-and-run cases are rampant here along with drivers who threaten you. Most don’t even pave the way for pedestrians although I have to admit that some pedestrians actually provoke the drivers. The root cause is how this is all toallly unregulated, encouraging chaotic driving and gutsy pedestrians. I still don’t understand why cab drivers have to honk at everything on-site; it’s not like the traffic is going to move any faster. The pedestrians, even if they could, don’t use the over-head ramps like the one in New Road. They actually opt to take the road, which looks like a live version of grand-theft auto. And, do I need to mention the petrol lines that stretch for miles and miles? We get bandhs here instead of floods although it hasn’t happened in a few weeks, cross my fingers. I wonder, is Bangladesh in a worst off condition? I’d like to know from someone like you who actually resides there rather than the news…
Please allow me to be very polite and put it this way-
I sprint as fast i can while crossing the road. There’s no other option.
Haha…that’s what I do here too…maybe you’ll enjoy reading my blog since you’re “a victim of society” too…:P
- http://meagainsthemachine.wordpress.com
i did enjoy…i had no expectations and your blogs were a treat. For somone who can’t find anything good to read in this world, it was a ‘filler’ in life to such an extent, that even the oligatory after-lunch nicotine hunt could wait…thanks for bringing some breeze here in Dhaka.