a giant ride backwards
this is from calcutta's telegraph newspaper. an article by nobel laureate venkataraman.
here are som excerpts..
It invigorates me on my way to work and relieves me of stress on the way home. So my immediate reaction was one of puzzlement: Why did the Indian media consider my cycling remarkable?
.. I should have known better. When I visited Vadodara in 2005 for the first time in two decades, I had the naïve idea of renting a bicycle and checking out my old haunts. But in those two decades, Indian cities had exploded. Their infrastructure has not been able to keep pace with the change, so they are choking with traffic, making it extremely hazardous for cyclists. This in turn has made bicycles all but disappear, so that only the poor who cannot afford a motorised vehicle generally use one.
.. Ironically, just when cities like London, New York and Paris have realised the errors of the past and are now encouraging cyclists by providing special bike lanes and routes and easily rentable cycles that can be picked up and dropped off at numerous points, cities like Kolkata have taken to banning cyclists from their main roads.
I suspect that the indifference or even contempt towards cyclists has its roots in the increasing segregation of the well-off from the rest of India.
The prosperous classes have effectively seceded from the masses, as pointed out by Arundhati Roy. They live in their own private bubbles, never encountering public spaces let alone the public.
.. By abandoning the larger society, the well-off in India are impoverishing themselves. They may live in luxurious, well-equipped homes, but their world has shrunk dramatically into a self-made prison.
Indian cities continue to expand at a tremendous rate. To provide a decent environment for the millions who inhabit them, governments will not only have to learn from the experience of the West but also not make the same mistakes. Promoting cycling and other energy-efficient and clean transportation should be an essential ingredient of city plans, whereas making cycling more difficult is a giant step backwards.
... but will we redeem ourselves re bikes?
this is from calcutta's telegraph newspaper. an article by nobel laureate venkataraman.
here are som excerpts..
It invigorates me on my way to work and relieves me of stress on the way home. So my immediate reaction was one of puzzlement: Why did the Indian media consider my cycling remarkable?
.. I should have known better. When I visited Vadodara in 2005 for the first time in two decades, I had the naïve idea of renting a bicycle and checking out my old haunts. But in those two decades, Indian cities had exploded. Their infrastructure has not been able to keep pace with the change, so they are choking with traffic, making it extremely hazardous for cyclists. This in turn has made bicycles all but disappear, so that only the poor who cannot afford a motorised vehicle generally use one.
.. Ironically, just when cities like London, New York and Paris have realised the errors of the past and are now encouraging cyclists by providing special bike lanes and routes and easily rentable cycles that can be picked up and dropped off at numerous points, cities like Kolkata have taken to banning cyclists from their main roads.
I suspect that the indifference or even contempt towards cyclists has its roots in the increasing segregation of the well-off from the rest of India.
The prosperous classes have effectively seceded from the masses, as pointed out by Arundhati Roy. They live in their own private bubbles, never encountering public spaces let alone the public.
.. By abandoning the larger society, the well-off in India are impoverishing themselves. They may live in luxurious, well-equipped homes, but their world has shrunk dramatically into a self-made prison.
Indian cities continue to expand at a tremendous rate. To provide a decent environment for the millions who inhabit them, governments will not only have to learn from the experience of the West but also not make the same mistakes. Promoting cycling and other energy-efficient and clean transportation should be an essential ingredient of city plans, whereas making cycling more difficult is a giant step backwards.
... but will we redeem ourselves re bikes?
