Singara Chennai is fast becoming a urban hell full of the metal contraptions whose invention seemingly was a turning point in man's history - the automobile. With the city swelling with skyscrapers, IT parks, and an alarming no of assorted buildings every which way it begs the question - Is the city on infra-steroids? The whole world is clamoring about recession, and yet, at first glance there is not so much of an inkling to suggest that in our city. Teens keep flocking to cafes, malls, cinemas and pubs, the marriage business is booming like never before, the hip keep splurging inside expensive lounges and restaurants, the omnipresent middle class keep smothering discount stores and keep falling for the decade old marketing gimmicks, couples date away happily, the IT world keeps chugging away despite huge job cuts, and the city's notorious roads come to a stand still ever so often. That said, the younger gen, particularly those just finishing college, are in quite a fix, with job cuts ruling the country in the presesnt recessionist situation. Hirings have been frozen in over a dozen reputed companies, layoffs have increased to 3-4 days a week, huge MNCs like Caterpillar have cut jobs by almost 20%, the bench size is burgeoning in the IT industries and a general aura of depression prevails in the city. Add to this the rush hour traffic in the streets and u get one angry crowd of citizens fretting and fuming. Indian commuters are well known for their utter disregard for road rules of all kinds and this is one of the main reasons for the traffic deadlocks clogging the city's arterial roads like the mount road, the 100 feet road and the Poonamallee high Road. The higher class always blame the govt for the lack of big roads, poor maintenance and inefficiency. The middle class are too busy blaming the increase in the wealth of the city and hence in the increase in traffic and buildings without parking spaces. The lower income people and the poor dont give a hoot about the traffic and keep jay-walking, encroaching pavements, and in general do all they can to contribute to the traffic snarls. What people dont realise( and this goes for both the educated and the uneducated) is that with a little bit of regard for the rules, a little bit of patience and common sense almost half the traffic problems in this city can be solved. For example I was going to a function yesterday from anna nagar west to T.nagar (near pothys) and it took me nearly 2 hours to cover a distance of about 5 kms via the 100 feet road. Insane bus drivers squeezed their way through tiny gaps in the traffic, with utter disregard for traffic signals and automobiles nearby. Two-wheelers cut and swerved in and out of traffic, auto rickshaws screamed past disgruntled cars and jay-walkers, the air was full of the cacophony of the horns with the lane system still being unheard of in India. Chennai, the bustling metropolis that has so much development, so much modernisation, so many avenues for business, entertainment, health care, industry, juxtaposed with the reeking cooum river, the hideously inhuman slums, the sweltering hot weather, the trademark traffic snarls and gag inducing levels of pollution, is still mired in umpteen no of problems all of which can only be solved with considerable help and cooperation of the citizens themselves.
