Last evening we were out and what we experienced was the
usual traffic jam which is quintessential to Bangalore. While thankfully we
started to slide through the snaky vehicles, the opposite lane had begun to form
a jam of its own. The reason was oh-so watchable!
Right in the beginning of the slow crawling traffic was a
buffalo cart. Yup, a buffalo cart with 2 sturdy buffalos and a man trying to manoeuvre
the cart loaded with sugarcane. Buffalos
being what they are and doing what they are supposed to do, walked with a
definite slow rhythm, swaying their tails and lethargic bodies.
And just behind the village personified was a….hold your
breath….an Audi Q7….Heehaw! The driver
was but obvious pissed off to the core.
A ‘oh-just-out-of-the-showroom’ looking Audi + ‘I-am-the-owner-of-this-Audi’
looking driver + a honking exasperated moment + the calculated gait of the
buffalo + unbaffled cart rider + a road full of watchers with a smile, rather a
laugh, on their faces.
Clearly, India is running 2 parallel worlds. One, which is completely oblivious of technology, infrastructure and luxury. And the other other which is the epitome of "India Shining".
While we too had our share of
laugh, I was left wondering about the concept of economic paradox which I had
learnt as a student and taught as a teacher. Finally I got to see it firsthand!