A Road

Have you ever thought about a road upon which you tread day in and day out with or without footwear? What is a road? What are your thoughts about it? Think of a place where there are no roads. Even though one is not blind, in such a place, one’s movement is restricted and resembles to that of a blind man. It appears like movement one who is groping in the dark. It is also like our movement in a desert where we have to move ahead following the directions. If there is no road, that place would be a secluded one. It is very hard to have communication with anybody of that place. Nobody would visit it and it would be cut off from the rest of the world. Imagine the plight of people who live there. Then one would realize importance of a road. A road saves much time and strain . Before the construction of a road it used to take days to reach that place. To-day one can reach the same place in a few hours. What a transformation a road could bring about? Further it is not enough if there is a road, we should know how is it where it would lead etc. Advantages of having a road are many and disadvantages of having a road are a few. A road makes an impregnable area accessible. For example, Khyber Pass enabled invaders to invade India. It is this Pass through which the subcontinent was invaded time again and again by conquerors like Timur, Babur, Nadir Shah and Ahmad Shah Abdali. The Khyber Pass has been a silent witness to countless great events in the history of mankind. Further it promoted trade between countries. More useful and busy a road becomes more prominence it receives and more developmental, economical and commercial activities take place on that road.

A road is a public passage for vehicles, persons, and animals. It is a road which quite often enables one to reach their destination safe and sound. Sometimes the destination is nearby and sometimes it is far away. Sometimes it is at the end of a road. Wherever there is a road, one can proceed further without much difficulty.Wherever there is no road one would definitely face one or another difficulty . It is only sometimes one may be misguided or by mistake one may proceed on a road which may lead to an unknown place. At that time one is generally bewildered. Thus due to a road many a times we come across complex situations.A well constructed well maintained road is generally called a pucca road.Vehicles generally ply on a pucca road without any hindrance whereas on a kutcha it is difficult to ply them. Thus we can call a road as motorable and non-motorable road too. Every mile every inch or every meter, kilometer is bifurcated and marked on a pucca road. One can know where he or she is on a pucca road. One can also know where the side road or inroads would lead on a pucca road. Everywhere directions are marked. Whereas as a kutcha road does not bear many of this information. It is an undeveloped road. When we drive in a vehicle on a road though it is only vehicle moves forward, we who are inside it feel that trees, plants etc which we come across are bidding us adieu. Road is a way out. A road is a public utility. It is for our convenience. A road makes one’s task easy. Many a time surprises are in store for us on a road. Sometimes strange occurrences take place on a road. The experiences that one would have on a road are unique. They are different than the experiences that one would have on water or air. Experience may vary from person to person. One cannot be always lethargic on a road. One should be alert and vigilant on a road. What would happen on a road no one can predict? It is on a road one may have an encounter with bandits. It is on road one meets with an accident. Great saint Narada met Valmiki on road side only. Generally shops and establishments are found by the side of a road. Otherwise they are at least connected by a road. Similarly there is a road to other important establishments too. To go anywhere a road is quite essential. If there is dearth of roads in a country that means that country is underdeveloped .It is on road some people spit and some people litter. A road indicates whether a country is advanced or underdeveloped. In order to achieve any success, we have to find ways and means. Hence the idioms: - “Road to success”, “Road to victory”. There is road to self destruction even.

A road is a necessity for any place. Further it should be convenient in all respects. . Every country spends more and more on creating more and more roads and maintaining them. In this respect they collect toll from people also. Development of any country is not possible without a good net work of roads. Governments spend a lot to maintain roads clean and neat. Roads are the infrastructure needed for development. Roads represent a country’s culture and civilization. They are very useful. They are man made. It is road that connects one place with another. A road makes our travel easy. One can reach top of a hill by a road. In other words now-a days, we can reach any nook and corner of world by a road. It enables movements of goods, animals and what not. A road is a meeting place. Sometimes acquaintance, friendship occurs on a road only. There are various kinds of roads like mud road, cement road, metal road etc. They are not of same length. Some are long roads and some are short roads. Some are state highways and some are national highways. Some bear name of eminent personalities and some are identified by number. Many a times a road is known for what it bears. Hence we come across Church Street, Temple Street, etc. If more shops and commercial establishments are found on a road, it is bazaar. We find roads running over rivers, ponds etc by means of bridges, culverts. Roads run through tunnels. Generally trees are grown on either side of a road wherever possible. Roads connect cities, villages etc. There is a proverb “All roads lead to Rome” Now a day all roads in a country generally lead to capital of a country. A road is to be well designed with footpaths and traffic signals etc especially where traffic is heavy. We find all kind of people on a road. A man who sings on a road for his livelihood is known as a street singer. A man who roams on a road without any work or purpose is known as a vagabond. A man who is after fair sex on a road is known as a road Romeo. Then there is road show. It is conducted with a purpose. It may be a show presented by a touring theater company or may be a traveling presentation advocating a political idea or agenda or a new movie shown at selected theaters usually for higher ticket prices. Or it may be even a series of presentations to investors describing an upcoming issue of securities. A road show is designed to drum up interest in the issue among potential investors. We also come across words like road line, road gang, road roller, road block etc where the word Road is a prefix

Traffic on a road is always heavier than the traffic that we find on air or water. Of course, we find busy roads as well as calm and quiet roads. Traffic consists of movement of various types of vehicles like motor cars, motor vans, bicycles, carts etc and pedestrians. Among pedestrians we find men, women and children. School, colleges, residential quarters would always like to be away from a busy road. Noise, pollution, traffic which we find on a busy road is definitely a nuisance to them. It is always advisable to avoid eating from roadside establishments. We come across hawkers on a road. One or another incident takes places on a road. There is what is known as peak hour on a road. That is when it is time for everybody for office, school etc. A road bears heavy traffic at that time. Experience of one who is in caught in a traffic block is inexplicable. He who is caught in a traffic block would feel that he is between a devil and a deep sea. However careful one may be sometimes accidents take place on a road. In order to avoid accidents on a road various measures are taken. Traffic on a busy road is to be well controlled through regulations. One who drives a vehicle on a road should know lane rules thoroughly. In India we are always directed to keep left on a road whereas in U.S.A. one has to keep right on a road. Whenever uncontrollable disturbances take place on a road, generally a curfew is imposed to restore peace. Curfew is a regulation requiring certain or all people to leave the road or be at home at a prescribed hour. One should know and follow road safety rules whenever one is on a road. Violation of road rules attracts stringent penalties. One should know what traffic signals indicate and understand what various sign boards try to impress upon us. Nobody can ride motor vehicle on a road without a license from road transport authorities. Anything lost on a road is generally lost for ever and one who is fortunate only may get it back. Generally people honor a person through a procession on a road. Similarly a person is insulted on a road too. One of the ways of insulting a person is making him or her sit on a donkey and taking him or her round on a road in procession. A road is sometimes used to make protest to government against its policies. In that context, members of opposition party squat on the road and block it and do not allow traffic to make any movement.

Having tread a road for a quite a long time and having become tired, one wishes their destination to come at the earliest. Similarly one who has lived for quite a long time becomes tired of life on this earth, and beckons death. Our life resembles in many ways a journey on a road. Life is full of ups and downs. A road is also not always even. It has ups and downs. It has thorns, stones. It has curves and bends. Sometimes it is broad and sometimes it is narrow. Sometimes roads are slippery. Sometimes they are bumpy. Similarly life has up and downs. One who has surmounted difficulties in life does not feel difficulties afterwards. Same is the case with a person who has covered a rough terrain of a road; he or she finds it easy to cover other surfaces. When all the obstacles or hindrances are removed, the road is clear. One who has lost everything and who has become pauper is said to be on a road. Road is one which accommodates everybody. One should not forget the road that he or she has tread. That is one should always remember their past. Future is nothing but a road which remains to be covered by us.

Middle of a road is generally an odd position. It is where one faces sometimes a dilemma. It means half way through .It is a situation like one being in the middle of a job and when one does not know what to do. When one either cannot leave the job or finish it. It is a precarious position where one should be extremely careful.

These days road maps are available everywhere. A road map of a country comprises of outlines of various roads available for travel in that country. We can plan our journey in that country with the help of road map. Road maps are generally available at book depots, travel agencies, department of tourism etc. This information is available on your computer also. We can have a print out of route to our destination with the help of a computer and printer. If your vehicle is fitted with a navigator, it enables you to reach the destination without any difficulty. It is enough if we feed our address and address at the destination. We come across on a well developed road numerous sign- boards. Sometimes road is hot due to scorching sun and it is very difficult to tread upon it. Sometimes we come across snow clad roads also. Many times we come across several roads especially at a junction. Those roads mislead us. As a result, we would be in two minds. We face a dilemma. We would not know which road we have to choose. It is having a number of options. We should be careful while exercising our option. Similarly to a place there may be a number of roads. One may be the shortest; another may be the longest and the third may be round about one. Each one of them may have advantages and disadvantages. There is a saying which says that a known devil is always better than an unknown devil. Similarly it is always better to choose a known shortest, safest road rather than choosing an unknown road. We should choose an appropriate or right road. Sometimes we may need a guide for the purpose also. In life also we come across a number of problems and have to take a right decision and move in a right direction.

Who does not want to know the road to heaven in this world? It is goods deeds that lead one to heaven. We can divide roads into two types of roads namely good road and bad road. Good road means good path and it is a right path. It is one which is worth emulating. A bad road means a bad path or wrong path which should never be followed. It is unlawful .One road may lead us to a heaven and another road may lead us to a hell. They depict two faces of life namely good and bad. We should always make sure that we are on a good road. Spiritual minded people always refer to these two types of roads. According to them one who always does everything that is good is supposed to tread a road to a heaven and would please God and one who does something that is always bad is supposed to tread a road that leads to a hell and would incur His displeasure. In times of difficulties one finds it difficult to make a choice between a good road and a bad road. At that time generally one is in two minds. One faces a dilemma

One can pun with the word “road ". End of a road means end of a journey. That is death. When we are disturbed and walk on a road, we shall have no destination. We walk walk and slowly we cool down. Many issues are settled on roads. Junction is one where many roads meet. It is an important place. Lanes are diversions from a main road. They are cross roads. Road is a public place. Anything that happens on a road generally gets a wide publicity. Advertisements are generally found at prominent places on a road through hoardings, writings on walls and wall posters. They help development of a business. That is also one of the modes to bring to one’s notice events that are likely to take place at a place too. A road is utilized for conducting many sports and games too. Motor car races, cycle races, marathon, relays take place on a road. Anything can happen on a road. All types of processions, protests take place on a road. Even if we find a single road we can make inroads and do marvels. A road is indispensable. Besides, many people want to know more and more about road to riches. It is not a man made road in this universe but it is means to become rich. If one says that he has not reached the end of a road. He means that he has not come to end of his career or profession. He is confident of performing for some more time. When all ways and means are tried and are of no avail and when there is no other go, one comes to the conclusion there is no road ahead. Road ahead is road that is yet to be covered. Sometimes it is task that is yet to be attended or completed too. Sometimes roads ahead are difficult one and about which we do not know not even a little. Sometimes roads ahead are not difficult one. It is future. Nothing could be said about them. Thus, there is a lot to learn about a road.