Schtick' with the rush hours

Battling the monstrous traffic certainly ranks as one of the top peeves for everyone in the city. But while you’re in the thick of all the fumes and honks, some things can make it almost bearable. Would you twiddle your thumbs hoping for miracle or use the time judiciously? We spoke to a bunch of young Bengalureans, and their responses to tackle the wait of city traffic need kudos, even if the BBMP does not!

“Being quite the multi-tasker that I am, I just can’t sit idle. And the saddest part is, I tend to waste a major chunk of my time on the jam-packed roads! But the misery wouldn’t end there – coming back home to a pile of chores deepens the mess.

So I started to carry vegetables to work, only to chop them every time I was stuck in a jam! And trust me, I’m a lot sorted for dinner as the arrangement helps me pace things better after a long day,” shares Priya Jain, an entrepreneur, who travels for about three hours daily.

Banking on a similar ideology to put ‘travel time’ to better use, Naaila Khan, a creative professional, takes the time to listen to beauty podcasts. “My job requires me to be adept with beauty trends, since I usually get round-the-clock queries on make-up. The time helps me brush my knowledge and be better equipped to handle clients,” she quips.

Ask her if the bustle makes her feel agitated and lose focus, and pat comes the reply, “Honestly, the noise can be a deterrent when you’re carefully listening to something. But, I feel it’s also the best time to learn things as you have all the time to listen and learn things in detail. I think traffic is the best time to listen to anything as you have the time to go back and re-play something over and over again.”

While a major chunk of folk decided on ways to use their time, a young student tells us how the time has opened up some of the life’s truths, we often tend to overlook. Vishnu Ramakrishnan, a 21-year-old engineering student from MVJ College of Engineering, stumbled upon a rather interesting observation during his commute.

“I was travelling in a BMTC, and was stuck at the Koramangala signal for a good 40 minutes. In a bid to while away time, I began to count the number of cars and occupants in them. And in a span of 10 minutes, I realised that there were about 76 cars that just had a driver in them! This reality hit me hard on how a lot of us are still oblivious to how massively they are contributing to the traffic menace,” he shares. “So, everytime I hangout with a friend, I make it a point that we all car pool or travel together,” he concedes.