Saturday, February 14, 2009

Chaos Central

That's what it seems like, doesn't it? The Chennai Central railway station has such a fascinating - and distinctive - forecourt that one can actually spend hours watching the ebb and flow of life at its doorstep.

As I watched this afternoon, the crowd seemed very disciplined; they were waiting for the light to change. It did, to allow the vehicles to make their left turn on to Poonamallee High Road. The crowd, too, chose that exact moment to dash across the road. There are a couple of cops, and a prowl car, too, in this photo (can you spot them?), but what's one man or a car against half-a-hundred determined jaywalkers!

6 comments:

Hilda said...

Lovely train station! And LOL at the jaywalkers! Sounds like Metro Manila :D

LVISS said...

Crossing the road in these traffic junctions in Chennai is a skill of sorts.You should time ur dart to the other side correctly .People not used to seeing such sites will get a heart attack..

Shantaram said...

@ Hilda: Haha! Once again, the similarities!!

@ Ravindran: You bet - it takes a lifetime to get used to!

Anonymous said...

Yea..experienced the organised chaos two days back.

chorinchath said...

In many cities the pedestrians are left to themselves.Either zebra crossings are not there or nobody to implemnt traffic rules at these points making it difficult for students,elderly or physically challenged persons to cross roads.Many times the drivers speed up when they see pedestrians . Yes real chaos.
Apart from these the cyclists think the rules are not meant for them. The 2wheelers overtake from wrongside & 4wheeler driver has to work his neck like windshield wiper. All these contribute to the miseries pf the jaywalkers!

Shantaram said...

@ LIT: Hope you weren't late for your train, finally!

@ Ramana: You mean 'once again', don't you? :)

@ Narayanan: These days, the broader the road, narrower the footpath, to top it all!