Irony on wheels

I was on my way to a meeting at II Chundrigar Road yesterday. As usual, there was a big, annoying traffic jam on the street, courtesy it being the main artery of Pakistan’s famed financial district.

With everybody stuck in bumper to bumper traffic, my car ended up wedged next to a Rolls Royce Phantom, net worth Rs 34 million.

Inside the car was a prominent Pakistani media personality, who was driving the Rolls himself, and accompanying him were two Toyota Vigos in front of and behind the vehicle, with private guards openly displaying their AK47s to everybody on the road.

I was in a Suzuki Alto, net worth Rs 600,000.

So there we were, side by side, the magestic Rolls being 56 times more expensive than my CNG daily runner. The funny part was that at that junction in time, the owner of the Rolls was no better off than I was. After all, he was caught in the same traffic. We were both getting late, and stuck in an annoying jam that didn’t know (or didn’t care) about how important the driver of the Rolls was, despite the hefty price tag and the small personal army. And he too was avoiding the motorcyclists whizzing by, just like I was.

In that brief moment, the irony of life made me smile.

Umair Kazi is a marketing strategist and blogs here.