The possum syndrome

Have you had the pleasure of meeting Ellie, the mammoth, on the big screen? Or even the little screen? Or even your mobile device? Well, to put it delicately, she has quite a presence. She owns Ice Age 2 with her brothers, the possums. She is the most lovable, fun, mammoth to make a cinematic appearance.

There is something about Ellie that you should know. When she was a little child, she was separated from her herd and was adopted by a possum who had two little possum children of her own. She has a happy childhood growing up among the possums. But, every silver lining has a cloud. And, this happy upbringing caused a slight misunderstanding in little Ellie’s head. Ellie believes she is a possum. She even hangs upside down from trees like her possum brothers. Or at least, she attempts to.

Let me give you some perspective on why this might be construed as a slight problem.

This is Ellie:

 This is Ellie with her possum brothers:

As you can see, the family resemblance isn’t exactly striking. Now, there is no need to come down hard on poor little Ellie. It is inevitable for such confusion to arise. Why, I see it every day on the Mumbai roads! Giant trucks seem to have it. Buses have it. Even auto rickshaws seem to be equally confused! Really, it's a ridiculously common phenomenon.

This is what they are:

          Image courtesy of nitinut at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

This is what they think they are:

     Image courtesy of Danilo Rizzuti at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

There must be a reason these slightly larger vehicles do what they do. There must be a reason they think they can weave in and out of traffic in seconds. There must be a reason they think they can fit into that lane that exists to the left of the left most lane. There must be a reason they think they can benefit by prodding you ahead by a few inches with their not so subtle horns.

All those in the medical profession can thank me for an enlightened diagnosis.

The real reason the vehicles do what they do is because they have ‘the possum syndrome’. They think they are a motorbike.

Vroom Vroom….