Three ingredients are required for road rage — A chronic sense of urgency, bad roads, and repressed anger. Right now the city I live in, Pune has the optimum mix of these three vital ingredients.

These ingredients are like the fire triangle ; oxygen, fuel and heat. Absence of one doesn’t lead to the fire. 

A few weeks ago, I parked my car in a narrow lane while waiting for my wife and daughter, who were at the pediatrician’s clinic. Out of nowhere, a loud thud jolted me from my thoughts. As I processed what had just happened, I realized that a speeding Tempo had scraped against my car. I quickly stepped out to assess the damage.

The sight wasn’t pretty—both left doors were badly grazed, and the side mirror dangled precariously by a thin wire.

Two men stepped out of the tempo. One of them immediately owned up to the mistake.They were clearly in a rush—it was a Flipkart delivery truck, probably scrambling to meet the Big Billion Day orders. Despite the anger simmering inside me, I found it hard to fully express it. I remember telling the driver, “I might seem calm and reasonable, but trust me, I’m really angry right now.” He acknowledged the situation and agreed to a settlement on the spot. 

I made it clear that if my insurer didn’t cover the full claim and there were any extra costs, he’d need to pay the difference. He agreed without hesitation. I snapped a picture of his license plate, and we exchanged phone numbers. They left. This all happened in a matter of 10 mins. 

Fortunately, my insurer covered 100% of the repairs, minus a standard fee of Rs 2000. When I called him to let him know that was his share to pay, he transferred the money immediately. And just like that, the matter was resolved. 

In hindsight, the missing ingredient was anger. It is the equivalent of fuel in the fire triangle. Perhaps I had faith in the process that follows. Or maybe I dismissed the event considering it as one off event, this will not happen again. I was upset but not angry.