With the growth in outsourcing & offshore development, the volume of traffic has increased by leaps and bounds. However the development of roads and parking space could not keep pace. The net result, utter chaos on the road.
This forced all corporates to get thinking on the transport problem. They had to invent a means of conveyance, which would carry more people than a car, be smaller than a bus and yet have the maneuverability akin to a small boy riding a bicycle. Thus the Tempo Traveler (TT) was born.
Looks-wise the TT may be a little smaller than a bus, but when it comes to maneuverability it can pass through the narrowest of narrow lanes where even a Maruti 800 would not pass through.
Meet the TT drivers, one of the drivers I've seen always has his eyes half closed. With this half an eyelid vision our dude can zip between cars, lamp-posts, cows, dogs, buses, pedestrians and fellow motorists. All this while keeping an average space of 2.5 millimeters between the vehicles he brushes past at breakneck speed.
It’s not uncommon to see other motorists who after almost having a rub with our TT losing their calm and yelling at the TT driver. Our driver however remains calm and raises an eyebrow at max as he continues in his path. He is in a state of mind that is free from craving, anger and other afflictive states, one with the road, the footpath and the mud patch beside the footpath. There is no terrain beyond limit
Now lets step inside the TT and meet the esteemed folks in it. We have Rip van winkle who will get in and go to sleep only to wake up at the office gate (I envy these types, as I can never sleep in a TT), Then the "thinkers" who like to be left alone.
The Droid from Star wars who would stare into thin air and keep talking on his blu-tooth. Folks who are immersed in their cell phones, unfortunately they do not keep the conversation to themselves, but speak at a volume which everyone in a radius of half a kilometer can hear. To them it seems every other person in the TT is just an inanimate object that happens to be traveling in the same direction. Not to mention the far too many stupid ringtones you hear in there.
Some people travel light, while others don’t mind lugging a desktop, CRT monitor and a UPS in their backpacks. Then we always have the handful of people who for some reason could not make it into CNN-IBN, nevertheless they do the same task in the TT making sure they are audible to everyone. Like usual sitcom comedies they sprinkle their conversation with hilarious laughter at the end of every alternate sentence. This is so you know which were supposed to be the funny parts.
At dusk, with the days work done you are now on your way home in the TT. Here you see another beauty about the TT. You can alight just about anywhere you please. .
It’s not uncommon to find some celebrities who have to be dropped at an exact latitude and longitude. It does not matter if this spot happens to fall right in the middle of a major ring road intersection, and at the precise moment when the color of the signal light there has turned from a red to a green. The TT driver has to manage this stop, and wait till out esteemed friend alights. This is irrespective of the fact that there would be one million other motorists behind him honking the hell out.
All in all the good thing is unlike the folks who were assigned to your team, here more often than not you have a fair opportunity to choose the person you would like to sit with.
To sum it up I would say its a wonderful experience. We should be thankful to the TT driver because of whose skill we reach the office in the fastest time possible.
No comments:
Post a Comment