Traffic Jams - 'Uh' 'Oh' - What do you do?

Mumbai has always been synonymous to Traffic Jams and people will continue to get jammed unless and until some miracle happens in future!! But have we ever thought about our first reaction when we get caught in such 'Traffic Jams'? Well, the first reaction that would come to me is to think of God, hoping and praying that my vehicle eases thro' the crowded  space, only to go 'Zoom' without any hurdle!! And what if you just can't escape and get caught in the traffic for hours? How do we spend our time then?

Well, we thought of posing this same question to our Telly Actors who we are sure would have experienced such a moment at least once in their life!!

Have a look!!!

Perneet Chauhan: 

When I get encountered with traffic, the first thing I say is 'Oh God Not Again' and in order to kill time, I will either be talking on the phone or listening to music. There was one instance when my friends and I were going for a function in Colaba and we were on the Eastern Express highway, where we got stuck for more than two hours and we were literally moving inch by inch. To terrify the situation further, I was famished and we didn't even have a bottle of water with us. As I am a very restless and impatient person, I started pestering my friends so much that they said I am a wrong person to travel with.  

Vishal Gandhi:

The first thing I say when I get stuck in traffic is "Oh no, I am going to be late again" but at the same time I console myself saying that the traffic is going to get cleared soon. A book called 'Secret' I read, had a positive effect on me as the book is about positive beliefs and laws of attraction. While it is music that works for people in traffic jams, it doesn't work for me at all. I always get stuck at the Marol-Sakinaka junction where the traffic is unpredictable. Since I had earlier been a cabin crew member at Jet Airways, time has always been my first priority.

Debina Bonnerjee:

I just say 'Oh My God' whenever I get stuck in traffic and start praying so that the traffic gets cleared soon. I used to count like kids till the signal gets cleared and if the traffic gets out of control I just pacify by surrendering myself to the big word called 'time'. I cannot concentrate on anything else when I get stuck. Traffic always has a very bad impact on me with regard to missing my flights, and out of the twelve flights I have missed till date nine of them were because of traffic. Last month too I was on my way to Chennai and I left at four in the evening, when my flight was at 6. But then I got caught after Goregaon Flyover and couldn't reach to the airport on time. But to my relief other members of the crew also missed the flight along with me. The situation becomes really bad when after the shoot you are trying to get back home exhausted, and traffic catches you.

Barun Sobti:

Pooja Gor:

The first thing that comes to my mind when I get stuck in traffic is 'Oh God, how long?'. Because I leave for my shoot early in the morning, I do not face much of traffic and I usually have this habit of dozing till I reach my set. But the traffic gets worse while returning in the evening and if it gets long, I have the pillow and blanket ready in my car, so I sleep. The traffic during Ganesh Chaturthi is always unpredictable because the pace with which people head for Visarjan will be very slow and once I had to reach somewhere on time but couldn't make it. I was stuck for three hours that day because of Visarjan.

Jay Bhanushali:
'Lag Gaye'- this is the thing that comes to my mind when I see a great traffic line in front of me and whenever I am in bad traffic I call all my close friends and talk to them. If Jay Bhanushali has to talk to his friends then he has to get stuck in traffic. The worst traffic that I have faced till date was the one during 26 July floods in Mumbai where my brother and I got stuck in our car on the bridge in Vashi and couldn't do anything and it felt like we were stuck for ages. We waited for a long time and when the water level started rising up we left the car there and walked all the way back home. Once the water level settled down I went to get back the car.

Neha Jhulka:

The first thing that I say is 'Oh no' when I get into traffic jam and when it gets out of hand, I just switch FM channels or put any of my music CDs to get myself engaged. Mumbai traffic is well known and everyday is a day with traffic. There was an instance when my friends and we were going to my friend's place to surprise her for her birthday at 12 in the night. I was surprised to see that at midnight too people in Mumbai get stuck in traffic. That night we reached around 1 O' clock and had to celebrate the birthday then.

Karan Wahi:
It is very irritating to get stuck in traffic and I just think 'Oh no' whenever I face the traffic. But I am always ready with my Play Station Portable and eatables in my car to face the traffic. Also I am an 'FM type' and it is played 24X7 in my car because I love the way RJ's converse with people and also to hear what people share their views. Most of the times I talk to my friends whenever the traffic gets too long. Once I had to reach for my shoot in the morning and I left from home by 9:30 in the morning. That day the traffic was so bad that I reached the sets at 4:30 in the evening. I spent my time buying magazines and choley and so many things that I don't remember now, all from the streets.

Well, just like me, most of the actors do come up with a 'Oh My God' in such cases. How do you react when you get caught in a situation like this?

Reporter and Author: Saranya Valsarajan