Some children of Temple Street, 13th cross, Malleswaram have a new assignment: Bring out their sketch pens and think up something nasty to say in messages to cars parked in front of their home and blocking their way into it. “We are leaving angry messages on cars to discourage people from parking them in front of our house,” admits Lakshmi, a home-maker in the area.
But she justifies the idea saying, “Our children are tired of asking cars to stop parking in front of our gate and so now we are writing messages like ‘Do you see a gate ahead?’ or ‘What kind of parking is this?’ and leaving them on the cars for the drivers to see.” But the residents could go a step further as even these messages don’t seem to be working and deflate the car tyres, she says.
“We don’t really want to be nasty to those who park their cars here. But when we can’t even remove our bikes from our homes becasuse of them, what can we do? Sometimes this happens during emergencies. On occasions we have had to park our car at a distance because vehicles belonging to the police, politicians or media are blocking our way,” rues Lakshmi, who blames the BJP office on the road for much of the problem, besides the temples and malls that now dot the area.
“Even since the BJP office started in Malleswaram we have had terrible traffic problems. We cannot even complain as even if we do the police are unlikely to take action against the ministers, MLAs and other politicians who frequent it,” she grumbles, adding, “On the day that BJP bigwigs arrive at the party office, we cannot enter or leave our home. We are keeping our fingers crossed that the BJP will make some arrangements for parking of vehicles that come to the office.”
The temples and malls which draw huge crowded have also changed what used to be a peaceful locality, she regrets. “While most enjoy weekends we dread them as the traffic congestion only gets worse," she adds.