Car owners and Neighbours

As I write this, I am able to hear the repetitive, jarring music that accompanies some cars as they back up. Thankfully, I am lucky enough to be able to hear birds chirp loudly, even though it is getting to be ten in the morning. In most neighbourhoods, all you hear thesedays is uninterrupted car music, right from 6am to 10am. Outside my own house, I can see the drivers wiping the cars till they gleam. People wash their cars religiously in my neighbourhood, rather they get their cars washed every morning. I think this is a ritual that symbolises the power and position of a person in society. It is as though by having clean cars, they are prepared to face the day, and have their ammunition ready. The cars are clean and are waiting to be driven. But where are they going to drive these cars? On roads built by corrupt politicians which are full of pot holes, puddles and garbage.

There is so much pomp and show that goes around this in-animate thing called the 'car', that it makes for a good topic for my blog. The endless noise that accompanies a car when it is being reversed needs special mention. There is a cacophany of noise outside my house as SUVs try to reverse out of the narrow street.  Some people like to announce their arrival or departure by honking in front of their gates, or they have this loud music to indicate that they are reversing their car. Instead of slowing down ahead of a curve, people would start honking as they approach the curve. This has become such a habit that the habit has now become the rule.

Almost every house that has a car and a driver, would have it parked right in front, in the morning. At times it would be obstructing traffic, just because someone is alighting or getting into the car. The driver and the car would be parked for half an hour in front of the house, just waiting for someone to get ready and get into the car. You are just expected to drive around the obstruction if possible, without driving into a ditch or just honk to show that you too have to use the road. If  only people walked a kilometer everyday just to pick up their cars, I think there would be a drastic reduction in lifestyle diseases.

The ownership of cars has got nothing to do with parking space. The fact that you don't have a parking space is not uncommon. So any space outside the house, on the road, in between road junctions can be used. There are drivers employed just so that parking spots can be reserved for the owner. The driver's work is to ensure that no one takes up the strategic spot on the road, in front the house that 'belongs' to the owner of the car. And so this is how crazy the car owning public look to a fellow car owner. You can imagine how it looks for the thousands who don't own cars and have to put up with this everyday.