134 East

There was a long line of cars ahead. It looked very orderly with a pair of red lights at the back and the left light blinking on the all the cars on the left most lanes. The headlights of each of the cars illuminated the license plate of the car ahead of it. A little ahead, just on the signal pole, hung a board. The white letters on the green signboard were clear even in the dark. It looked as if it was feeling a little bit shy being in the limelight, with all those vehicle’s headlight on it and it was more illuminated. The letters/number on the board read “134 East”, the number being circled by an inverted triangle with round edges. It had two arrows pointing down the road, directing the vehicle’s to the correct lane. I took the compass to find the directions and the arrow pointed to me, indicating that East was indeed to my left.
The highways in India have improved a lot over the years, with a similar green board with white signs, sans the documentation of them for the people to use. No concept of East or West in a country which had the concept of “DikPalas” (Guardian of directions) in its early age. This is a country where Gods were assigned certain directions to protect, the concept of sunrise and sunset to determine directions and time.
But sometimes I do feel that, the infrastructure of highways in India is simple to introduce the directions. It is kind of odd to compare both of them. But introducing the directions is surely a better way. Directions are kind of universal constant.
Who knows.. one day people will be taking the “NH-4 West” bound for Bangalore from Chennai