When the Signal turns Red

There is one thing that every commoner would sympathise with you about and that is traffic jams and having to wait for long for the signal to turn green on the road. This is true, especially in busy metros like Delhi, Mumbai and to a large extent Kolkata. Ok, now honestly tell me what do you do when you find the wait too long? I know a lot of people who start complaining and worse, they abuse and curse! As if all that is going to help them.

Diwali is round the corner, and so you can expect a lot of traffic snarls, jams at every nook and corner, long wait for the signals to turn green and once they are green, by the time you reach ahead, the signal is red again and is so starts the long wait yet again.

Don't get frustrated. Give creativity a chance and see how you make your waits from worthless time wastage to worthwhile time utilisation. Here are some of my ways:

1. Connect to your friends and dear ones. In our day to day lives, often we forget to call our friends and old colleagues and batchmates. This is the time, go ahead! Make them feel that you still remember them and miss those old beautiful days you guys had spend together. This is also a good way to get an update on whose doing what. Don't leave this great opportunity to show your social side.

2. Spend quality time with family, even if you are not travelling with them. You can call up your kids at home and simply lend them your ear. How much time do you get otherwise, to listen to all their little stories, woes and worries? Talk to your spouse, talk about all the beautiful moments you had spent together or how lovely s/he looks in a particular dress. Don't be surprised to see a smiling face opening the door for you, once you get home.

3. Technology has made our lives easy and also entertaining. Plug into your car stereo, your mp3 player, your ipod or anything that can entertain you with your favourite music or videos. However, one word of caution: do not prioritize entertainment over your driving. Concentrate more on the traffic and less on Shakira when she sings "Hips don't lie". Safety on road is much more important than them.

4. Imagine. If you are a daydreamer like me, who can go to any damn world with eyes wide open, and not moving an inch, then here is the golden opportunity. No one to disturb you, no one to bring you back to reality (except the honking cars around you and the traffic signals). This can be quite refreshing sometimes. But hey! do keep an eye on what's happening around you. I mean, don't crash into the car in front of you, even if the driver is hot! ;)

5. Feeling hungry? Is hogging on your mind, first thing when you reach home? Here is the time. Eat! Keep fruits, sandwiches or other dry foods handy. Snack on them, and you would find the red light as nice as tomato ketchup and would want more of it on your nuggets. :)

6. You can talk to your boss. No, I am not out of my minds. Actually this is a good time to update your reporting manager on the work status. This is more applicable in situations where your work area is not the same as your boss'. However, this option is completely based on your discretion. But, again a word of caution: do not call your manager in case you have a serious issue to discuss. While you are behind the wheel, this is certainly not the right time to take up any sensitive topic, be it with anyone.

7. Do you maintain a diary of your daily activities? You can check it at this time. You see how many of your to dos for today are completed, what's in store for the next day. or if you are travelling to work, then you can also see what lies ahead in the day.

8. Festive season is that special time of the year, when the no. of vehicles on roads, increase. And by whose grace I don't know, we have quite a lot of such seasons here in India, where traffic management is something like a fiasco. So you might be visiting friends, relatives, colleagues, acquaintances with gifts and good wishes. So while you are stuck somewhere in the way, why not plan and note down all the visits that you would be making. You can also call some of them and through a tete-e-tete, find out what they would like as gifts.
So basically you are killing many words with one stone. You are not wasting time while waiting, you are making good use of the time, you are connecting with people you know, you are making a good investment of money by buying presents that people would like and you are also creating an win win situation. :)

9. Pamphlets and those little things that you wanted to read but never got the time to. Now is the time. I, sometimes carry a book of short stories, or a small novel, that I start reading whenever I get stuck on the way. And if you know what the traffic scenario in Delhi is, you would know that the stoppage time at every signal is a minimum of 1 minute and can last to more than 5 mins. So with every stoppage, I finish off as much as I can and this way, I complete a book.

10. Pick up things that fell down while the vehicle was on the move. You can not do it while driving, use this time to pick them up and arrange them in order. You can also tidy your car a little if you have cluttered your car with things of importance and of no importance.

Well, these were 10 things that I could think of. Hope this piece helps in making your life a little better. You can also share with me your ideas on making good use of the time when the signal turns red. But, no matter what you choose to do, always maintain and obey traffic rules. I personally feel there are too many in Delhi, but nevertheless, anything for road safety. Right? :)