Rohan's manager Roger Heathrow came to India last month from Dallas for a week. This was his first time in India, and he was really looking forward to it. He came to attend Rohan's marriage in Bangalore. He got here on a Saturday morning, and I went to the airport to pick him up. We walked towards our Taxi to start our one-hour 6 kilometre journey to the hotel he was staying. He was stunned to know it will take 1 hour to travel almost 4 miles in his metric system. He asked me why that is. I thought I won't spoil the surprise and put him in the front seat of the cab. The driver entered the HAL road and stopped at the first traffic signal we encountered. It said 34 seconds. We were stopped right behind a petroleum truck. There was about 3 feet between the truck and our car. And Roger was sitting in the front seat with his mouth wide open. He was rechecking his seat belt, but I didn't know how that would help. Terrified, Roger asked me why isn't there a safe distance between the two vehicles. It was at that moment a biker went through the 3 feet gap and somehow reached the front of the waiting line. There was a policeman standing on the side controlling the traffic, and he didn't even care. I can't express how shocked Roger was seeing that. He started talking about how the people in America follow traffic rules and how good their traffic department was. When the light turned green, the traffic started moving very slowly. And by the time our car reached the front of the queue, the signal turned red again. But our driver out of impatience drove through the red light and dashed away like a lightning. Roger was shouting to me that we ran through a red light. It was no big deal to me. We reached the hotel in almost an hour. I left for home after he checked into his room.
I had to pick him up the next day to get to Rohan's wedding in time. We got into the taxi and left for the auditorium which was about eight kilometres away. We didn't have much of a traffic this time since it was a Sunday. When we were on the highway, we saw a kid(about 16 years old) do a wheelie in the middle of the road at about 70 kmph on a Yamaha RX100. Roger was shocked to see this and started from where he left off the previous day talking about the bad driving conditions in India and the superior ones in the United States. Even though whatever he was saying was making me really angry, I didn't comment and kept nodding my head. Partly because whatever he was saying was true, and partly because he was Rohan's manager. He described the lines on the road as 'Suggestions' to the drivers, and not rules. He was talking about the policemen who didn't do their job, how close we drive zig-zag on a straight road, how dangerous it is to drive in these conditions, and how much traffic this kind of driving is causing. Finally, I replied saying that we don't have big accidents and pileups here in this traffic because we can't drive that fast. He heard the bitterness in my voice and stopped talking about traffic anymore.
He left soon after the wedding for Texas. He was a busy man. And again, I had to drop him at the airport. This time I took Ashwin's car and drove myself. I tried my best to follow all the traffic rules this time. He didn't talk about the traffic this time, but enquired about the places to see in India the next time he visited. He promised he would surely visit when he gets a chance. At the airport, after saying our goodbyes, I was about to leave when he told me to drive carefully and gave me a funny smile. I smiled back at him and left.
I heard from Rohan that Roger died last week in Dallas at the age of 37. He was hit by a stray bullet inside a supermarket when two 15 year old kids were trying to rob the place. He was on his way back home from office and stopped to buy beer. I was sad to hear that. He was a nice guy.
Perspectives...
I had to pick him up the next day to get to Rohan's wedding in time. We got into the taxi and left for the auditorium which was about eight kilometres away. We didn't have much of a traffic this time since it was a Sunday. When we were on the highway, we saw a kid(about 16 years old) do a wheelie in the middle of the road at about 70 kmph on a Yamaha RX100. Roger was shocked to see this and started from where he left off the previous day talking about the bad driving conditions in India and the superior ones in the United States. Even though whatever he was saying was making me really angry, I didn't comment and kept nodding my head. Partly because whatever he was saying was true, and partly because he was Rohan's manager. He described the lines on the road as 'Suggestions' to the drivers, and not rules. He was talking about the policemen who didn't do their job, how close we drive zig-zag on a straight road, how dangerous it is to drive in these conditions, and how much traffic this kind of driving is causing. Finally, I replied saying that we don't have big accidents and pileups here in this traffic because we can't drive that fast. He heard the bitterness in my voice and stopped talking about traffic anymore.
He left soon after the wedding for Texas. He was a busy man. And again, I had to drop him at the airport. This time I took Ashwin's car and drove myself. I tried my best to follow all the traffic rules this time. He didn't talk about the traffic this time, but enquired about the places to see in India the next time he visited. He promised he would surely visit when he gets a chance. At the airport, after saying our goodbyes, I was about to leave when he told me to drive carefully and gave me a funny smile. I smiled back at him and left.
I heard from Rohan that Roger died last week in Dallas at the age of 37. He was hit by a stray bullet inside a supermarket when two 15 year old kids were trying to rob the place. He was on his way back home from office and stopped to buy beer. I was sad to hear that. He was a nice guy.
Perspectives...
