Traffic jams boost your creativity. Imagine being punctual, always. There would be no stress or drama anywhere, as you’d have already reached your destination in time, just like everybody else. Without the need to create fake stories about the reasons of your delay, your mind would just become dull.

Traffic jams generate revenue. Not for you, but for the State. There is around 55% tax on the overall selling price of petrol in India. In case of diesel, it is about 50%. So, if you buy Rs.100 worth of fuel for your car or bike, you give the State somewhere around Rs.50. The more you wait in traffic jams with your car’s ignition or AC on, the more fuel you burn. And then when you refill your fuel tank, you also refill the State’s coffers. If you were the State, would you have liked to reduce a portion of your revenue by curbing traffic jams? I guess not.

They enhance clarity of thought. When you wait for 3 minutes to travel 1 metre ahead, you get a lot of time to think and enhance your thought process with deep thoughts as well as trivial thoughts. In such times, I think of stuff like, if the flyovers under construction are being constructed with proper scientific research. By the time the construction of a flyover is complete, wouldn’t there be much more cars on the road (and on that new flyover) as car sales are at an all-time high now? Who suggested that constructing flyovers is better than constructing a Metro Train Network which could have borne a much higher commuter load?

Traffic jams are a great equalizer. Rich, poor, young, old, everyone gets stuck. It does not matter if you are on a Mercedes, a BMW or a Renault car. It does not matter who you are or where you are going. When the lights turn red or the traffic policeman raises his hand, you must wait.

Also, they might be an enabler for significant discoveries. Imagine there is a huge discovery of gold or lithium deposits in your city. Your local economy will shoot up to unimaginable heights. Now try to remember if you have seen municipality workers or machines digging up the footpaths or roads of your city? In my case, most of the roads and bye-lanes have been dug up. This has narrowed down movement space for vehicles, which leads to traffic jams frequently during peak hours. I can only pray that whatever they are digging for, may they find it soon.

To conclude, traffic jams are a necessary evil. Without them, life would be too easy and predictable, the State would be poorer, you would be much less creative, and there would be lesser mineral discoveries. So the next time you want to rant about being stuck in the traffic, remember the reasons why traffic jams are actually important, and why no steps are taken to curb their existence.