Bangalore :
Early on Sunday evening, the sky was clear and a soft wind blew across Ulsoor, lined by the lake on one side and expensive real estate on the other. There was an edge to the traffic racing towards the city’s downtown area, dodging pedestrians and potholes.
A young girl of perhaps 18 was at the front of the traffic on Gangadhar Chetty Road, close to the Thiruvalluvar statue. A pothole that had matured into a crater with water from early morning showers flooding the area, lay ominously across the road.
The girl and her two-wheeler, followed closely by an autorickshaw, were stalled by the condition of the surface. The slightly-built teenager, who was trying to manoeuvre her bike through the slush, lost her balance and tumbled into the muck.
The auto driver and the passengers in his vehicle sat unmoving. Behind them, traffic started piling up. A young man on a bike suddenly raced through the crowd and tossed his vehicle to the side. He didn’t even pause to take off his helmet before pulling the girl out of the slush and depositing her on the footpath. He then returned to move her vehicle.
For a while, people just watched, stunned by the little drama playing out before them. I realized the girl might need medical attention and got out of my car, leaving it in the middle of the road. By then, a biggish crowd had gathered around.
It took me a couple of minutes to get back to my vehicle which was clearly blocking the traffic. But no one objected. No one honked. There was a considerable pile-up and people in the vehicles in the rear probably didn’t even know what was happening up in front, but nobody made a sound. Everyone waited patiently. At a time when rapes and crimes against women headline newspapers every day, it was an especially sweet moment. The rider who cared, the crowd that paused.
As Metallica’s James Hetfield’s told the city’s rapt audience not so long ago, “Bangalore, you’re beautiful.”
It might have been the time of day, that day of the week, when the mood relaxed. It might have been the most patient were in the pile-up. Or maybe, just maybe, the city is regaining some of its lost temperament. Fair-weathered, pot-holed Bangalore.
source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Bangalore> Auto Driver / by Prajwal Hegde, TNN / September 04th, 2013