'Why don't you arrange for one cab for your daily travel to and from the office' said a female colleague. 'I don't know. I am not comfortable about someone knowing my daily schedule'. I said as I weighed the pros and cons of her suggestion. I need not have bothered. The idea was shot down with a thumping majority back home. So I dropped it as well.

The result is that I get to see different facets of human nature each day. Some cab drivers are very patient - they will wait at red signals without driving at the rate of an inch per second, they will not curse if others try to pass them and they will not honk unnecessarily. On the other hand, some will be so impatient that I end up praying to the Almighty all the way to the office.

I once ended up in a cab where the driver had probably just landed in the city from some hinterland. Unfortunately for him, and me as well, we got stuck in a bad traffic jam. He kept on saying 'Look, there is so much traffic ahead'. Patience is not my claim to fame. But what little patience I have got tested to the limits that day. Only the fact that there was no other vehicle that I could get into nearby kept me calm and sane.

Well, as they say it takes all kinds to make this world.

I have always prided myself on my civic sense. I wait patiently for the pedestrian signal to turn green even when people all around me are dashing across the incoming vehicles to cross the road. I make it a point to walk on the footpaths, whenever possible. But that day I surprised myself. I was getting late for office and there was not a taxi in sight. I must confess that I was so desperate that if I had had a gun I wouldn't have hesitated to force another passenger out of a cab at gunpoint :-)

I had almost given up when I saw a cab cruising past. Hoping against hope, I flagged it down. Usually, the cab drivers drive to one side of the road before stopping. But this one was not a stickler for rules. He stopped right in the middle of the road. And I, like a fool, threw all caution to the winds as I dashed across the road - directly in the path of another incoming cab. It was just my luck that the cab wasn't driving at a breakneck speed or else I would have landed in a hospital - in God knows what state. The driver of the second cab braked in time. I stepped back in horror and let him pass. Needless to say, I didn't look at him because I knew the fault was all mine.

But as I stepped into the cab, I resolved to be more calm in the face of delays because as I never tire of telling others 'it is better to reach late than never'.

Food for thought....

It's always at the End of something that makes us realize how beautiful was the Beginning

BNHS Weekend Programs

Want to go in the 'lovely, dark, deep' woods on the weekend? Check out BNHS programs at http://bnhs.org/nature-trails-a-camps/one-day-programmes-july-aug-2012.html

For whom the bell tolls......

We had almost reached the end of the trail at Maharashtra Nature Park, Dharavi. Just then I noticed three monuments constructed in memory of one Major and two Lieutenants of Indian Armed Forces.

Maharashtra Nature Park

I had wanted to visit Maharashtra Nature Park at Dharavi since a long time. Finally, managed to go there a few weeks back. The entry fee is ridiculously low - Rs 5/per person. If you are going by car, please note that there is no parking area inside. You will have to park your vehicle on the road outside.

I didn't expect much but was pleasantly surprised to find well-maintained lush green woods - with not a soul in sight :-) Don't believe me? Take a look.....