Tired of the traffic jam? So you have taken up walking instead of waiting for hours on end on sardine-packed roads? Good idea. But before you start walking to your destinations, here are 6 important tips that may even save your life.

1.       Watch out for the booby traps: You are walking on a perfectly good pavement. And then you come across those slabs that conceal underground gas lines or drains. Be alert! For the slab may be loosely set and the moment you step on it, it may flip sending you into a gaping hole. A perfect booby trap! It can be life threatening. And believe you me, I have seen people falling into one.

2.       Take care of your wallet: You get to your destination and reach out for your wallet. It’s gone! Yes, somebody kind enough picked it up thinking it belongs to him while you were walking the Farmgate crowd. So what to do? Just put your wallet in the front pocket of your trousers. You will be safe.

3.       Beware of footover bridges: If the footover bridge is less used think twice. If it is night think thrice. You may be mugged up there. If it is a little late in the night, you might meet nightly guests in the form of prostitutes and their clients. Quite embarrassing. But more importantly you are likely to step on human poop. People use these less frequented bridges as happy shitting grounds.

4.       Watch out for the wrong-siders: You are crossing the road. There’s no vehicles coming your way. As you step down, boom! A car, more likely a motorbike hits you, crippling you for life. It came from the opposite side, the wrong side, illegally. But that’s our road etiquette. So before you cross the road, carefully watch both sides for clearance.

5.       Puddles can be ruinous: You are on the pavement and there’s a little puddle on the road. Be careful. A ditch is likely to be sitting beneath and when a car will hit it, it will splash all the muck on you.

6.       Jab in the eye: You are walking on a busy stretch in the drizzle (it is monsoon now). Suddenly a jab in your eye and you are blinded. This is a very real chance when others are walking with their umbrellas unfurled. The spikes of the umbrellas are dangerous.