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Siddhartha Mohanty
Ever increasing traffic, precarious cross-roads, faulty road constructions, sand on the roads, all this -potent recipe for disaster. I have been driving two-wheelers on the roads of Bhubaneswar for more than seven years without a helmet on my head,and never before I have felt this need for a helmet like I feel for one now.
Wearing of a helmet has never been a traffic canonical in Bhubaneswar. It seems that, one fine morning the police wake up and decide that today and for a couple of days to come, they are going pull up all the chaps driving without helmets. Some of my friends who ring me up mention about these trouble spots and half of my preparation is over. With the kind of road planning of Bhubaneswar, it is easy to avoid these spots. It can be really exciting, eluding the police. Even surprise checks can be avoided. A never-seen-before fraternity props up amongst the people and you are always warned at a safe distance by the others coming from the opposite direction, gesticulating about the trouble ahead. All those who are caught and fined never really change their minds about wearing a helmet. They just consider themselves unlucky to have been 'trapped'.
The traffic flow in Bhubaneswar has increased alarmingly in the last few years.The roads have become so crowded that there is almost no margin for error. With the third of the public having a traffic-sense of the cows, accidents are happening with unusual regularity. During the office going hours it is fairly common to see people rushing, trying to overtake each other at dangerous angles, honking their horns like madmen, each one trying to outdo the other. If you mark the traffic-stoppage at Rajmahal Square (Bhubaneswar's busiest cross-road) - once the light goes green it looks like a race organised for the lunatics. Bhubaneswar has far too many dangerous intersection of roads. It is at these places were most accidents happen. Now coming to the sand on the streets. The amount of sand scattered on the roads make one wonder where the hell did so much of sand come from. Certainly it cannot be the work of an alien enemy spaceship. A plausible explanation to that is - It could be the handiwork of those trucks carrying sand for the construction of a new airstrip and the careless piling up of sand for the construction of buildings along roadsides. Believe me this problem is far more dangerous than it seems. The sand not only causes skidding of tyres, but also makes driving difficult if there is a strong wind with the sand getting into your eyes, nose and mouth. Now a good amount of this sand has been cleared away. But there is still a substantial amount on the edges of the roads and a strong wind can change any nice day into a nasty one.
With so many complications, wearing a helmet is the safest bet. But sometimes the helmet may even prove indefensible when it comes to those crotchety town buses or those heinously heedless truck drivers on the NH-5. After they strike, the gory details that remain would do any serial killer proud. In the recent past, a couple of persons I had known have died due to a brain haemorrhage after a traffic accident. In fact a majority of deaths resulting from traffic accidents are caused by injuries to the head. A helmet on these heads would have told a different story. For a person who has never put on a helmet before, wearing one can be really pesky. But now I have taken refuge in a helmet, a really safe helmet not those plastic cap ones. I wonder why people wear those plastic-cap ones. They are as shielding as a flimsy night-gown. The most vulnerable areas of the head remain exposed. If you are wearing a helmet make sure you wear a proper one and if you are not having one, buy a proper one. One thing is for certain - the helmet cannot reduce the chances of an accident.But next time you have an accident with a helmet on, you can be sure that your head remains in one piece and its contents safe inside.
Siddhartha aka Sidhu is a computer engineer .His hobbies include networking (Hacking !), music and watching "discovery " TV.
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