Fire Ahoy

16 April 2006 / JNW Service / Bangalore

People in Bangalore are bored. What gives? Well, take the traffic for instance. Everyday its the same old obstacle course -

• traffic pile-ups
  
• flooded roads (wishing you had James Bond's amphibious car as in "The Spy Who Loved Me").
  
• pesky autos taking sudden 180 degree turns in front of you.
  
• mindless cops who instigate traffic jams.
  
• bottomless potholes in to which people disappear - some have conjectured the existence of black holes in them.
  
• rampaging BTS buses and BPO Qualises whose "Call for complaints" phone numbers coincidentally don't work.
  
• helmetless guys on bikes (acting like Ajay Devgun in "Phool Aur Kaante").
  
• old women in CNG-retrofitted Fiats going at 20km/hr, blocking your way during those rare days when there is no traffic.
  
  

I mean, its a bit like getting sick of Need Of Speed after playing it for a half a million times. People are yearning for some more, something "Hat ke". The traffic does not feel the same anymore.

(Mr Agni Nagappa demonstrating his new innovation)

In comes the latest innovation. For the bored, drag-racing daredevils. Nothing like a bit of fire to lighten up the boredom. It add a whole new "element" to the traffic conundrum. This idea was incubated by Mr. Agni Nagappa, a grassroots innovator, who has applied for a Indian patent (No. 420042240) for this idea. "I felt bored", says Mr Nagappa. "I really mean it. The traffic was getting to be such a drag.. I could drive through SP Road with my eyes closed. A few times I actually fell asleep while driving my scooter. Thats when I thought up riding through fire - Now I do it so many times that people say I am expressionless - but it gives me a thrill like nothing else." So don't be surprised if you see the road burning ahead of you- just revv up and burn that rubber!

Thumbs up to the great Bangalore spirit of innovation and take-things-in-their-stride-ness!

- Jaimini NewsWire Service (Photo courtesy Times of India)