Where did the roads go?

Lekha and me had taken off on Saturday for a long drive. It was mainly to drop my nephew, Achu, at the Dharmasthala Manjunatheswara Engineering College at Ujire about 70 kms east of Mangalore. And since we're passing through that area, we'd also decided to take a detour and visit the 'Mookambika Temple' at Kolloor, about 35 kms east of Kundapura.

The drive, in my Cruze, was effortless, comfortable and devoid of any problem whatsoever but for the pathetic condition of the roads. In fact, to be frank, one wondered as to where the roads were at certain places!

My woes began from Kozhikode to Kannur and beyond, to Mangalore and Kundapura! At certain places, I'd to look for potholes of lesser sizes to negotiate my way through! The sad fact is that the authorities don't seem to care. How can they let roads - an important aspect of effective communication - to deteriorate to such abysmal levels causing all round hardship to people? Continuous and blinding rains, coupled with quite a few nasty drivers made it an unforgettable experience!

If one were to ask me, the entire lot of guys responsible for their upkeep alongwith the greedy and corrupt contractors should be shot!

Tailpiece.

(a) At the end of it, I'd logged a distance of 1,389 kms over a span of three days without signs of tiredness!

(b) I'd got over the setback caused by the couple of accidents prior to the journey!!