Dear Nagaland Government, thank you for the great initiative of the elevated left-tyre-parking for our 4-wheelers. We are so proud ours is the only town in the whole wide world that has this facility. We have such parking lots along the D-Block road from town to near the Assam Rifles junction, and some other places in town. However, a humble request – please also build footpaths for the pedestrians, who are at risk on the roads.
Through the past few decades we lacked ‘the right of way for 2-wheelers’. Many drivers are blind. Many more cannot read or understand, being the illiterate drivers that we are. I had a strange feeling that a signage along a roadread “2-wheelers keep right and 4-wheelers keep left”. Whatever that means! Some drivers (all 4-wheelers) keep to the extreme left, some to the extreme right, and some drive in the middle of the road. Most 2-wheelers humbly ride in queue, behind their larger relatives; the D-Block road is classic example. Please give us English classes on the roads to enable us to read and understand the signs.
Most of us are Christians and not supposed to curse at everything, even during slow traffic or jams, particularly at vehicle owners who have parked along the road side. The problem is not the owners but the white, road boundary lines. We drivers see red when parked vehicle tyres are on the road side of the boundary lines. Please redraw the lines into the roads so drivers know that the vehicles are legally parked. That way we will patiently wait for traffic movement to ease, without cursing.
Thank you
With malice towards none
(With inputs from Late Kushwant Singh’s (writings))
Prof. G.T. Thong
Kohima
