The concept of the pavement.
Everyone in Bombay is well aware of the fact that if we're walking anywhere, it has to be on the road. Primarily because there is nowhere else to walk. Middle, Side, Edge of the road, or gutter - the choice is yours. While it is annoying to drivers that they have to look out for random pedestrians aside from dealing with crazy truckers and road rage addicts, they accept this as part of life in the city.
However, the BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) has spent a substantial amount of money over the last three months to construct pavements in Bombay so that automobiles and pedestrians will no longer have to share the same space.
Since the pavements are built over the gutters, this presents a drainage issue during the monsoons. And since they've used paver-blocks instead of good old concrete, the pavements are about a foot and a half (if not more) higher than the road, making it extremely inconvenient to hop on and off every time the pavement ends. Now, while I admit that most of what the BMC does defies all logic, there are certain areas where the pavements are more than usable. There are no sunken areas, no gaping holes, no major height difference from the road level and no large branches obstructing the path. I know this because I walk on the pavements in these areas, and I am still alive and well.
So now, when I am driving my car and there are people in the middle of the road, I am going to slow down and look around to check if there is a pavement in walkable-on condition. If there isn't, I will slow down and make impatient noises while waiting for them to manoeuvre themselves out of the way of oncoming traffic.
But if there is, I'm going to accelerate and may God be with them.
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