The Roads Taken

Remember our Literature classes and that remarkable poem titled ‘The Road Not Taken’ by the renowned poet Robert Frost written as far back as 1915. It ends with the beautiful lines ‘I took the one less traveled by and that has made all the difference.’ The message in a metaphorical sense enthuses one to think and act freely and not follow the beaten track! 

In real life and in modern times, we have to generally follow the ‘GPS’. Thanks to flyovers expressways and service by lanes, the roads are ‘many, circuitous and deep’ (inside), to borrow words again from poet Frost ! In today’s high speed travel by road, its advisable to follow signs and/or stop at the wayside stalls for directions. Only the undaunted will try to follow the routes less taken : for if a flyover too many is crossed, one might fly into the neighboring hamlets and cities, that are almost joined at the hip.

True, our ‘road journeys’ have ‘come a long way’, thanks to much improved connectivity, extensive & superfast lanes enabling travelling quickly to even distant cities ! That said, the ubiquitous roads and lanes within our megacities like Mumbai are in steady disrepair and constant repairs and roadblocks omnipresent. During rains there’s inevitable monsoon mayhem with potholes galore, vast areas waterlogged & daily traffic woes that have been the subject of study and debate of our civic administrators for decades.

Mumbai has just seen its biggest civic elections held after eight years and citizens anxiously await much improved civic amenities following the tall promises specially relating to the traffic snarls that continue unabated despite the Metro trains introduced & flyovers ! Like Mr.Frost, we average citizens in Mumbai for instance, try to find a road less taken but find almost all taken up and no parking available to squeeze in. I for one have decided that best parking is our Society compound & my car rests there grandly in my own parking space !  

Sometimes you have to take the only road available like the one just opposite our building where all the grocery shops, vendors and sundry stuff incl. ice-cream are at a stone’s throw. The problem is that with traffic in full flow, all drivers are in a tearing hurry to reach home after work. In developed countries we find car drivers slowing down to allow pedestrians to cross but in Mumbai the traffic threatens to hit or miss. One must show the physical agility and alacrity in running of a ‘Virat Kohli’, to cross to the other side. Yes, there are traffic lights but when they’re far apart, all drivers rush to beat the green light of the next signal.     

A tragic mishap occurred in Noida’s Sector 150 when 27 year old techie, Yuvraj Mehta was driving in night fog on a dark road with no warning signs of pit-falls ahead. Frost would have been disillusioned & lost if determined to take unexplored roads in our megacities !