02172009 - Puh!! These drivers..

Today i saw an ambulance struggling to make its way in the busy traffic. While i was reflecting on this, bits and pieces of the following story started to fall in place. This is my first venture into fiction. Here goes nothing !!

Note - All the characters in this story are fictional. I have taken references from my life, because it is easy for me to write about myself, than to write about a fictional character. DO NOT ask me questions about this!!!

On his way back from office, Treyada was listening to his favorite song track from his ipod. "What an idea sirji!!” he complimented himself reflecting on the way he had concealed the ipod from the curious eyes of the traffic policemen. Clipping the ipod to his pants' right pocket, taking the wire from underneath his shirt and concealing the ear buds underneath the helmet, it was a perfect blend. Nobody could notice the white wire in the evening. It was a tiring to drive from office back to his house, especially in the peak hours. Treyada always preferred taking a 90 mins bus to an office far from his place, than driving 30 mins and reaching an office near by. "Why drive, when you can sleep", was what treyada used to say when his friends asked him. But circumstances had forced him to drive, nevertheless, he had his two best companions with him, his first girlfriend - Kinetic Nova, the vehicle he drove from the past 6 years, to him he understood the vehicle and it understood him, and his not so silent companion - the ipod. Treyada was particularly amazed by the battery life of his ipod. "Handy tool", he thought while reaching out to his right pocket to increase the volume, "If it weren't for you my friend, i would have been bored to death while driving. A little music never hurt anybody right?", Speaking to himself was something he had developed, as a hobby. He had once heard some guy saying, "The inner voice is always correct, but the problem with it is, it is very low. It keeps warning your mind about your wrong doings, but the mind ignores it because the voice is not strong enough", this had what inspired him to talk to himself, or according to him, his inner voice. When he was alone, without any friends, or when he was with his friends, most of whom talked about things that never interested him, his inner voice would always keep his company. It was like having a friend, when ever he wanted, where ever he wanted. "A friend On Demand!! Haha.. this would be a nice office joke".

The traffic light was still showing RED, treyada did not mind the delay, all he wanted to do after going home, eat and go directly to bed. "Yes, today, i shall do absolutely nothing!", he promised himself. He looked at his watch, it was 7.40pm. “In another 20 mins, I will be eating dinner.. hmm…”. Traffic fascinated him, driving to his office 24kms away from his house, every day for 6 months, had not only made sick of driving, but, his inherent nature to see patterns in chaos had made him a smart driver. Gauging the behavior of the driver in front of him, and relentlessly cruising through the heavy traffic, was his recently acquired talent. This had a few advantages; he could get to places much quicker than a normal guy. When ever people questioned him about how he could make it in time, he explained, “Breaks, what a wonderful way to use the power of friction, apply friction when you want to slow down, otherwise keep the accelerator at full throttle, that is the best way to drive my friend”. He did not like vehicles overtaking him. If a vehicle overtook him, he had to race it, no matter what!! and if he couldn't he would console himself "for now dude, for now.. i will catch you next time !".

            “Traffic, the psychology of reading the mind of the driver in front of you.. hmm.. nice definition, perhaps I should mention this to a few friends in our conversation”, while he was lost in his thoughts, something caught his eyes, an ambulance. The driver was struggling to take a turn, its loud siren piercing the melodious notes of the song, treyada did not like it. "Puh!! These drivers, they do not know how to drive smart! All they do is get into the main road and get stuck at the traffic. Why can’t they learn?? That guy could have easily taken the service road, and bypassed this traffic. But NO!! he had to come on to the main road.. hmm.. nice idea, perhaps i should write a book on how to avoid traffic. That would at least help these guys!!". Yes, he was very proud of his knack of finding his way in the busy traffic. The signal turned yellow, Nova’s engine started, it turned green, and treyada raced through the traffic. He wanted to put his skills to test once again, he wanted to see if he could beat the ambulance. Raising the accelerator, he felt the engine's vibration. "Ah, my sweet baby. I still remember the first day i got you", yes, he was thinking about the first day he got to drive his Nova. "From 0 - 60 in just 8 seconds they said, but you my dear, can do much more than that, can't you ??" He clutched both his breaks, nova slowed down, “Thank God friction works!!”,he thought. An old auto driver trying to cross the road was the culprit. "Puh!! These drivers, they do not know how to drive smart!". The auto driver was cursing treyada for coming in his way, but treyada ignored it, all he wanted to do now was to catch up with the ambulance and race it. "Just a few more meters, do not let me down, common baby", he raised his accelerator. "Yes, yes!!", the excitement grew as he saw the red light of the ambulance flashing. "Buddy, i will definitely catch you this time!!", he raced through, curving along a bend, a scorpio was the only obstacle between him and the ambulance, there was no space to overtake it from the right, the only way to get the scorpio behind him was to beat it from the left. "What the heck, lets do it buddy!!", he leaned to his left, right wrist made a swift move, wheels started spinning fast, he took a sharp left turn, to overtake the vehicle. CRAAASSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhh !!! Everything went blank.

When he opened his eyes, everything was white. His mother was sitting beside him. A tear had silently slipped her eyes, and was now on its way to the floor. Seeing him awake, she wiped her tears off. "Thank god! you are conscious. You have been lying unconscious for 3 days now. Doctors were worried. Wait, let me call the nurse", she got up to call the nurse. Treyada caught hold of her hands, looked her in the eyes, words struggled to come out of his mouth, his voice was very meager when he asked, "What, what happened??". "There was an un-covered man-hole, and you drove right into it, your head hit the ground and you lost consciousness. Bones broken, major bruises, my God !! look what you have done to yourself. I am not letting you drive, ever again !!!". His mother's voice faded. She was talking about how carelessly youngsters drive nowadays, How they ignored the traffic rules and something more. All these did not make sense to him. He was tired, very tired. His eye lids were closing involuntarily. The last thought that entered his mind was, "Puh!! These drivers....."