Traffic muse

I think I’ve spent half my life in traffic. Ever since I found out that all my interests lay on the other side of town, I’ve been getting on the bike and getting to these places. Invariably, it would take no less than half an hour to reach any place. I’ve ridden on so many kinds of bikes: starting from bicycles to motorbikes and the feel of being in traffic has become second nature to me. Since I spent so much time in transit, I had a lot of time to think about things, and I once even developed a whole philosophy based on Taoism related to traffic. I’ve forgotten most of it now, except that it paid great attention to watching the flow of vehicles and anticipating every thing. I’d gotten so good that I could predict which way a vehicle in front of me was going to turn even before they switched on the indicator. I developed rules of safety applicable only to two wheelers; rules such as: always stay diagonally behind the big vehicles such as trucks and buses; never assume that just because the signal turns red that the people going in the opposite direction are going to stop. The cardinal sin was not being prepared for others’ mistakes; one always has to take into account the cascading effect- somebody brakes suddenly and soon everybody’s braking. By always flicking my eyes ahead, always scanning around I try to make sure that I’m not caught off guard. After many years of practicing these techniques, I can now travel in the city almost on autopilot.
So when I came back to Bangalore after a gap of two years, - two years without touching a moped- I was apprehensive about riding the streets again. Traffic in Bangalore is not easy to describe. I remember in Israel, people used to complain about traffic jams, but they don’t realise that even traffic jams are orderly there. In India, vehicles don’t pile up linearly, they are jammed in every order possible, and getting oneself extricated from a jam is really a test of nerves and patience. The two wheelers have an easier time, because they can fit into tight corners and somehow make their way through the snarl, but the larger vehicles, cars and trucks, etc, are simply stuck and have to wait till a space clears up. And the snarl is always accompanied by honking, resulting in an atmosphere more reminiscent of a particularly loud and noisy fair. I don’t know if it’s my impression or the reality, traffic in Bangalore has become harder to navigate. Crossroads that didn’t even have a signal now have a policeman in attendance. A lot of one-ways have suddenly appeared, depriving me of my cherished routes home. Fly-overs have multiplied as well, which can be construed as a Good Thing, but I have my own qualms. And the design of Bangalore-originally intended as a residential city, i.e., a place one retires into- hasn’t helped the explosion of vehicles. Bangalore is simply not designed as a metropolitan city, and now its facing crises that are normally seen in bigger cities. Still, they are talking about a fast local train system, but it has to be above ground otherwise there would too much to dig up, and it has been in the works for so long that I don’t know when it will ever happen.
Despite all these changes, a week on the roads put me right back on track. Maybe riding a bike in traffic is like swimming- you never forget the techniques. You just have to wait and try your hand it for a bit, and it all comes back to you. And the best part is that I’ve rediscovered my thinking time. Like other people use walks and jogging tracks to spend a little time thinking in solitude, I use the bike. In the chaos of the vehicles swirling around me, I find that the thoughts appear just a little clearer and the connections just a little cleaner. Maybe I’ll finally break the writer’s block that has jinxed me for the past two years.

Veerappan and Israel

I have somehow always found myself in trouble spots. To explain- 4 yrs ago I was working for an ecological research organisation. After a year or so of pretty tame work counting birds and butterflies in the forests of the B.R.Hills area, i started doing pretty much the same in the adjoining MM Hills area. This place was the presumed hideout of the forest brigand and sandalwood smuggler, Veerappan, who has been high on the most wanted lists of both the Karnataka and Tamil Nadu state governments.

First of all the area was considered dangerous because of elephant activity; even the forest officials warned us against doing any research here because we might get attacked by the elephants. And lest anyone doubts, elephants may look cute and all that but they can be very unpredictable and liable to charge at the slightest provocation. One of the times when I have experienced absolute, distilled fear has been when an elephant chased me. Anyway, around the time when we started working in MM Hills, Veerappan, who had been lying doggo for many years made a move, and what a move! He kidnapped one of Karnataka's leading film actors and held him hostage. It is difficult to imagine the extent of outrage felt by the citizens of Karnataka at this unprecedented event; and it is important to understand what status film actors have over here. They are literally worshipped as gods. I even know of two or three temples dedicated to the worship of these film stars. And this guy who got kidnapped, Rajkumar, was the biggest one of them all in karnataka. So the entire state was in a frenzy, and there were riots everywhere and tremendous pressure on the state governments to do something about it. The state called in the army and established a special task force to comb the MM Hills and adjoining area. But Veerappan promptly disappeared, sending out his demands via tapes a la bin laden. The issue dragged on for many days, if i remember right, close to 4 months before some deal was made and the actor released.

During this time, we were busy laying transects and continuing our work observing birds and butterflies. We stayed right next to the police headquarters and meet them all the time as they ventured into the forests. They had an army of jeeps, but considering that there were hardly any roads in the hilly and forested terrain, it was almost a waste. We were warned every time we ventured into the forest, which happened to be everyday, but nevermind. Finally the actor was released and everything settled back to normal, but Veerappan was never caught, despite all the promises and the posturing of the politicians.

The reason all this suddenly came back into my mind was a news item in yesterday's newspaper: the government is seeking the help of Israel in catching Veerappan. I can imagine their logic: Israel has a reputation for gathering inelligence and apprehending suspects. In fact, going by the Israeli newspapers, every other person caught or shot seemed to be on a wanted list somewhere. So surely, their expertise will pay off here as well. But they do not take into account many things. First, Israel is a small country, and it's relatively easy to keep tabs on the entire population. Everybody has an identity card and the whole country is criss-crossed by roads, where they can set up checkpoints or whatever. Here even the voter identity cards have errors. Also, the bin-laden factor: the reason bin laden has avoided capture for so long is because he's obviously being helped by his fellow men. Veerappan has also a loyal following that give him shelter and food. And any Israeli style action by helicopters is bound to fail because of the terrain, which I can attest is quite hostile. What is necessary according to me is a massive combing operation, on a far greater scale than seen before, an operation that would undoubtedly hemorrhage money. But the Israelis can bring in their sophistication in data gathering and analysis, which may lead to potential hiding places. It remains to be seen what they will do, but I, for one, will be watching.

UPDATE: Deccan Herald had a section where they asked readers to submit opinions about the israeli effort to nab veerappan, but i couldnt find it on the website. They also had an interview with a supercop Sangliana, who was incharge of the operation, but i couldn't find that either. Here are his views about the veerappan problem from an interview when he retired.

Well at Beersheva If i'm right about the location of this well, I think I went to a salsa party here once. The rest of the site has great pictures of early Israel. note, of course, the underrepresentation of the south. (via imshin)

home

Okay the trip was as bad as i imagined and i feel like i've been through the spin cycle of a washing machine. But the trip was relentless as well, i kept hopping from one form of transportation to the other almost continuously and slept under the blare of videos and stereos and whatnot. Saw my first hindi movie in close to ten years (i think) trapped in a 20 hr bus ride from Bombay to bangalore. Already i notice things that strike me as odd: maybe my whole perspective is changing based on these two years spent abroad. I realise how it might be to a foreigner to leave the secure orderliness of a western country and descend on india, where seeing surreal images are a way of life, something normal. For example, the bus was just leaving bombay and it paused (it's an understatement- there was a traffic jam) below a flyover. Some kids were playing cricket under the flyover, when suddenly a shower of sparks descended from the base of the flyover. I thought that maybe it's a short or something, but i soon realised that somebody was welding under the flyover. I couldn't see anything but the golden sparks that descended gracefully onto the ground and scattered. The kids stopped playing, and huddled to the side waiting for the shower to end, while one kid approached the sparks dramatically and thrust out his hand pretending to catch a few, but stepped back just in time to avoid getting burnt. The bus moved soon after and i lost sight of the flyover. I was thinking, this is something that would have great effect embedded in the middle of some movie, and here it is happening all the time all around me. I'm sure I'll have tons of things to write about. While i had a great time in Sede Boqer, I had to stretch the posts, because so few things happened, but i guess i will have the opposite problem. It'll be fun, and i'm looking forward to the latest twists and turns on this path :)

Farewell to Israel

It has been two years since I have been living in Israel and it's time for me to say goodbye. I have very mixed feelings about leaving, because although i am going home, i am also leaving behind a part of my life that was clearly the biggest thing that has ever happened to me so far. The trip to Israel was the first time I had ever traveled outside the country, first time I had been in a plane even, but now I can reel off the answers to any security guy in the airport like a veteran :) I am heading back to bangalore tomorrow via ethiopia and bombay. I am really dreading the 24 hr bus ride from bombay to bangalore, but like everything else, this too will pass. I had a great time here, and I only regret not starting the blog earlier, because the blog gave me a sense of time here. And added a bit of surrealness when I found myself listed as an 'israeli' blog at other blogs. Thanks once again to Allison.
Sitting in the middle of the Negev erases all sense of the outside world and by chronicling even the tiniest bit of adventure made me more aware of the things that are happening here. Being in Israel, learning Hebrew, knowing the local customs and traditions, following the festivals- all these have changed me: I pay far more attention to things I just wouldn't have noticed in India. I have a more acute sense of politics now, while before I used to read just the comic section in newspapers. Maybe I will switch back to that anyway :). And knowing the situation here from the ground -so to speak- puts me in the unenviable position of being a supporter of Israel, despite my wish that the govt would run things in a better way. I think the main memories I will be taking back with me will be of the desert (there's nothing like doing a project in the Arava to make you keenly aware of the desert) and the immense diversity of people here. One might think that Israel is just a land of jews, but I have met people 'returning' from so many countries and using so many languages that the diversity is only to be wondered at. And of course the incredible international feel of the desert school, where you hear the chatter of atleast five languages at any given time and where you can make friends from all the continents. I will now spend the rest of my life trying to get rid of so many words that I found indispensable here -"nu", "beseder", "ma pitom"....etc, words that I now say automatically. I have too much to say and too little time, and a suitcase to pack as well, and I will write more once I get back. But the world is a sphere and paths are destined to cross, so rather than a final goodbye I shall say lehitraot.