Bangalore traffic is rather painful. The drivers don't just care about what happens to the public and other drivers...everyone has only one motto, 'Do as you please'! Indiscriminate use of high beams on the city roads with the sole purpose of blinding the drivers in the opposite lane is their favourite passtime. Specially menacing are the auto-rickshaws.

Autos-drivers believe in treating the road equivalent to their bedrooms, they can do whatever they want. Specially when they are about to U-turn, god help the guy behind him. God was rather merciful to me day before yesterday given the fact that I still live to see another day! And when a staunch atheist like me gives credit to Mr. God, one can be sure the experience that I had was not particularly pleasant or rosy.

On the first occasion (there was more than one) I was happily driving down our lane at my usual speed of forty, along the left side of the road like a righteous law-abiding citizen. An auto was coming down the road from the other side. I looked into the auto but turned away disinterested since the passenger was not a good-looking girl. In fact it was not even a girl. Looking away was my mistake. The auto-driver noticed my apparent disinterest and swore revenge. He decided to U-turn and did. He bumped into the side of my bike with a resounding crash. It took me some fifty yards to stabilize myself and come to a halt. I got down and inspected my bike for damages. Aparently there were none. The auto stopped beside me. The driver got down and inspected his auto for damages. The front tyre guard was dented. The guy gave me a spine-chilling glance, stepped into his auto muttering all the time in kannada about life and how it was unfair, and drove away.

The second incidence came later in the day. Already jarred by an incident in the morning, this time I was driving much below my par speed. At the same time I was keeping a weary eye open for oncoming autos from opposite lane and their U-turning tendencies. I did not pay much attention to the auto in front of me. So this time this fellow decided to U-turn to the right. As he came right in front of me, I braked. The Thunderbird has wonderful brakes. I owe my life time and again to the disc brakes on the front wheel. And they saved me again this time. As I came to a screeching halt, the auto-driver heard me, paniced and stopped...right in front of me, so that I could no way avoid him. Well, as I said, the brakes saved me, and I stopped with an inch to spare. (Well, there was this problem in +2 Physics, if you come across an auto in the middle of the road with n metres to spare is it easier to turn or brake? Energy formulae somehow proved that it is easier to brake. I however had learnt the lesson the hard way, especially hard for my friend's car which I was driving, and which sported a scratched left headlight for many subsequent days.)

After that, for the rest of the day, I went about at 10 Kmph peak speed, with the belief firm in mind that I was destined to die an autocrashic death that day. No wonder I was particularly thankful towards my destiny for having let me see the light of another day!

Note: Another addition in the Favourites list, another close friend - another Anant!