Of roads and ideas

I was on my way travelling from Chennai to Tanjavur today. We decided to break with tradition and travel by car. We took the national highway NH 45 from Chennai to Trichy and my what a national highway it was.

I have to admit, I had slightly low expectations of what a road would be like between two cities in India. This was based on my experience on an earlier trip to Thirupathi.

The moment we think of roads in India, we instantly conjure up images of potholes and ditches and lanes no better than muddy pathways on which vehicles are expected to tread safely. There are no dividers and each vehicle is free to move in any direction it wishes (or others wish). It is expected that there will be all kinds of traffic from dusty bullock carts trudging along under the command of the farmer's whip to the swanky new Mercedes Mr. X would have just brought in from his relatives in the Gulf. You'd have entropy at its best. Such is the character Ive seen.

But on this particular highway, I swear i couldn't tell that I was actually in India. The road was wide, with 4 lanes and neatly drawn lane dvidiers. In the middle was a divider wlined with a series of colourful if not exotic plants, all in bloom. On either side was the thin green haze of planted trees with thin stems with finely trimmed green grass, interspersed with red, ash and yellow.
The road itself had regular parking stops for travellers to rest, with adequate facilities to relieve themselves. The restrooms in these areas were with tiled roofs and gardens on either sides.
And yes, the scenery would alternate between paddy fields just done with the previous harvest or green hills with clearly visible steps cut out from rocks and the odd temple or two at their peak. The road would wind up and down, with crossings being made in flyovers, to ensure smooth flow of traffic.

At regular intervals were green signboards elevated at the right height, neatly displaying in white the location of the 3 nearest cities in kilometers. Power lines regularly crisscrossing, in addition to railroad tracks. Vehicles actually followed lane rules with signals being applied to stop whenever they required.

If I thought the day was good, the night was even better, luckily for us, we were blessed with a full moon. The shimmering pale light, glanced gently upon us and everything else, as trucks carrying sugarcane stems and chopped wood crossed us, causing a minor tremor on the roads. Although the window was closed I swear I could detect a waif of the scent of freshly cleaned rice and molasses, in a rather heady cocktail.

I can't help but feel, this is so non stereotypical of my view. I have to change. We are progressing, its just that we have to look outside and see. The road did stop and I did return to a more conventional road type (rollercoaster ride and all), but I was amazed at the power of what we and the government can achieve. Its a question of time, money, resources, patience, human resource management, people regulation, discipline and many other factors I feel. It is however, definitely possible, to evolve ourselves into a nation which can have global standards in roads and infrastructure. Its upto us, to streamline this and make it more smooth.