Rail-roaded

"O, God! It's the 'Metro' attack! Quick, remove our things from our road!"

Poor Chennaiites.

First the power situation; now this – The Great Chennai Re-Route Rumpus.

Look, Chennaiites, a fairly co-operative lot, willingly, even cheerfully, endure the tumult and upheaval caused by value additions like the '...rail based rapid transport system' to the cityscape of their beloved... er...city...

But...

It's hard, okay?

Agreed, all proposed road usage changes are always carefully explained beforehand...

But hey –

There's a huge difference between being given a set of directions, and actually following them.

'Directions' don't tell you that the new you'll-have-to-take-this-right-for-a-while is a narrow strip that clearly resents having greatness thrust upon it.

Or that, with all those one-ways, you'll loop about so much, there's a real possibility you'll go past yourself at some point.

Dwellings in hitherto quiet by-lanes are now learning to say: 'We're on the main road itself, okay, va?'

Current Chennai road-users, stepping out of home, feel a sense of shared experience with their favourite mythical heroes.

Talk about facing the perilous and the unexpected on a daily basis.

In addition, it's summer.

Rumour has it that the average Chennaiite is checking daily horoscope columns more assiduously these days.

Understandable.

When chaos abounds, you turn to the stars for answers.