Sunday, January 22, 2012

Drag racing at the beach. Not in Miami, but in Chennai?

So, there I was walking along the beach enjoying the pleasant afternoon sun and breeze, after quite some time at the art exhibit, when the sounds of screeching vehicle brakes jolted me into the world around me. 

The culprit was a white BMW X1.  With boom-boom music to boot.

And then a black BMW X1 sidled up next to it. 

Two expensive cars, on a road by the beach, and with young adults as drivers.  The drivers could have been anywhere between in their late teens to early twenties.

The drivers talked with each other.  And then as they both revved up their engines, I wondered if they were drag racing.  In Chennai's Besant Nagar beach. When everything else was quiet by the homes that looked far from Indian.

Yep. It was a drag race, all right!

Must be some rich kids, I thought to myself.  I wondered if I would have done that, if I were rich.  Nah! I am way too boring a personality, who delights in eating oatmeal for breakfast :)

A few minutes later, they were back, and then turned into left into the street and stopped. 

Again, engines revved, and off they went.  Thankfully, they didn't return.

But, another drag race took over: two bikes.  Boy were they loud.  A driver alone on one, and the other bike had a second on the back seat.  Even scarier?  Only the solo-driving guy had his helmet on.  What the hell is wrong with people these days?  Or, am I beginning to turn into a Andy Rooney? :)

I didn't have to worry about the (b)rash youth anymore--a police constable stood in the middle of the road and started reading a newspaper.  I suppose the rich kids didn't want to test their machines or the police!

I slowly walked towards the inviting waters.  To my left was a father and a son sharing a good moment in their lives, while the mother stood back watching them through her purdah.
 

On my right was a father with his daughter, who was making it loud and clear, through her yells and screams, how much she was enjoying the waves.  The mother in her churidar was happily clicking away.

I could sense a feeling of loneliness getting into my system along with the refreshingly clean salty air.  I walked away that feeling, which is when I spotted another lonely soul by a boat.  We are all in the same metaphorical boat, I told him silently.  Some day, the drag-racing youngsters, too, will understand this.

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