Thanks to an office that is located in Bandra (pali village) and a little more free time that the recession has bestowed upon us, I have the privilege of picking up my girls from school a couple of times a week these days. Petit – the best school in the burbs, in my opinion (who cares whether they have AC classrooms or not, they have a campus, real trees and playgrounds!). It’s down the road from Pali Hill, just up the road from Carter’s and is Parsi run. That’s pretty much as civilised as it gets in these parts of the world. You think?
But not, if you witness the chaos that the traffic causes outside the school; every single day at least a couple of times a day. Give us a challenging traffic situation and all good manners are forgotten and the ‘each man (usually the driver) for himself – survival of the fittest’ (or in this case thickest) rule kicks in. No meek shall inherit the earth for these folk; it’s the who honks the loudest, who can double park twice over, angle a car into a narrow space where a bicycle wouldn’t fit and get closest to the gate challenge!
It’s my child, my car, my big fat ass (or not, given that a lot of them are ‘gym moms’) first. There is absolutely no regard for the fact that a) there are small children involved b) walking a few steps from where you can find parking without bringing traffic to a halt behind you, won’t break your back (your next stop is the gym, for god’s sake) c) someone actually died outside the school in an unfortunate accident, just a few years ago.The school does their best putting rules and people in place to manage the chaos, but with parents unwilling to display even an iota of self-regulation/ responsibility or being able to communicate basic dos and don’ts with their maid/driver armies, it’s futile. One mom even waits in her car at the corner (blocking the flow of traffic behind here) so that she can zip in when she sees her child at the gate. It’s a smooth, efficient, no parking-waiting-walking solution for her. Damn everybody else.
In this cloud of smog, there is just one small glimmer of home. Twice a day, Anita, the Florence nightingale of this damned suburb, fights relentlessly with chauffeurs, mothers, auto-rickshaw drivers, sometimes at the risk of physical danger (someone slapped her a couple of weeks ago, it’s shameful). She does what she cans to compensate for our selfish attitude, go say a few kind words to her when you see her next. But don’t slow down your car and stop the traffic behind you.
– Rajesh Tahil
Filed under: My Bandra | 3 Comments »
Mad Over Donuts has opened in Bandra and I already feel three kilos heavier. These soft, fluffy, aromatic, circles of dough seem harmless enough but a warning… they are highly addictive. The donuts are freshly made in front of you and come in sweet and savoury flavours. Some of the best selling are – the Black and White Bavarain, a warm donut filled with vanilla custard and dipped in dark chocolate; Midnight Beauty- dark chocolate laced with white chocolate; Black Forest Beauty, a donut dipped in dark chocolate with whipped cream. Sigh! And the best part is that the flavours keep changing. They’ve also got enough variety for the fruit lovers such as Burstin Orange, Coconut etc. PS: We recommend the Bavarian. 
inbandra 