Salut!
As much as I hate to say this, I'm going to say it anyway: Gone are the days when you didn't have to think even once about hating things in Mumbai. But now, times are changing. The traffic, the pollution, the population, the stench, the garbage is getting too much to take, for me at least.
Let me give you yesterday's experience for example. I had to travel from an area in Central Mumbai to the suburbs, which usually takes me 45-60 minutes to cover. Ideally, I repeat, IDEALLY, a distance of approximately 12 kilometers should take just about 22 minutes. But understandably, a certain acceptable amount of traffic makes it 45-60 minutes. But why, in the name of this ex-green planet, should I spend TWO AND A HALF HOURS travelling a distance of 12 kilometers? Why, why, why?
Forgetting about the traffic for a teeny-weeny while, what the hell is wrong with the darn Rickshaws!?
I stopped using the public transport years ago because Mumbai men couldn't control their testosterone level, women couldn't pass a chance of having cat fights, young kids didn't bother whose foot they were standing on and my dear mummy-papa increased my pocket money (yippee!)
So I have been pretty regular on the harassment-roll of rickshaw wallahs. I say harassment roll because:
A) They don't want to go anywhere. Literally, no-freaking-where. Then they crib about not making enough money. Then, they increase the fares. Then, seriously? Seriously?????
B) Meters. 'Nuff said. I don't think I have paid the rightful fare more than twice, or maybe thrice, in the last 4 years. Pinky swear.
So coming back to yesterday, I spent approximately half an hour trying to get a rickshaw. About a 100 said no. About 2 were busy bribing a cop. And the one rickshaw that I took agreed to take me half way, without the meter working for double the price. Icing on the cake, eh?
Oh, did I mention that at one point the traffic was so bad I had to get off and walk 2-3 kilometers to get where I had to in time. Choco chips on the icing on the cake, na? Not yet. The cherry on the choco chips on the icing on the cake was that I was called "Rasmalai" by some random guy on the street. [I used to like rasmalais, bummer. :( ]
So to get somewhere in the city I have to brave rickshaw wallahs, slower than a slug traffic, foul language and vehicles,sauchalays and garbage filling my nostrils. Parfait! I don't want to talk about what we SHOULD or COULD do about these rickshaw wallahs or traffic issues (saving that for a later post maybe. Teehee).
But at the end of the day I feel bad about abusing a city I love so much. I feel bad when I want/have to take my car out and add more carbon monoxide to the air instead of being Eco-friendly and taking public transport. Forms chain reactions, doesn't it? What to do?
Hope to find some answers. And less traffic.
Au revoir!
Miss Bee.
I tweet on: http://twitter.com/#!/devikabharadwaj
As much as I hate to say this, I'm going to say it anyway: Gone are the days when you didn't have to think even once about hating things in Mumbai. But now, times are changing. The traffic, the pollution, the population, the stench, the garbage is getting too much to take, for me at least.
Let me give you yesterday's experience for example. I had to travel from an area in Central Mumbai to the suburbs, which usually takes me 45-60 minutes to cover. Ideally, I repeat, IDEALLY, a distance of approximately 12 kilometers should take just about 22 minutes. But understandably, a certain acceptable amount of traffic makes it 45-60 minutes. But why, in the name of this ex-green planet, should I spend TWO AND A HALF HOURS travelling a distance of 12 kilometers? Why, why, why?
Forgetting about the traffic for a teeny-weeny while, what the hell is wrong with the darn Rickshaws!?
I stopped using the public transport years ago because Mumbai men couldn't control their testosterone level, women couldn't pass a chance of having cat fights, young kids didn't bother whose foot they were standing on and my dear mummy-papa increased my pocket money (yippee!)
So I have been pretty regular on the harassment-roll of rickshaw wallahs. I say harassment roll because:
A) They don't want to go anywhere. Literally, no-freaking-where. Then they crib about not making enough money. Then, they increase the fares. Then, seriously? Seriously?????
B) Meters. 'Nuff said. I don't think I have paid the rightful fare more than twice, or maybe thrice, in the last 4 years. Pinky swear.
So coming back to yesterday, I spent approximately half an hour trying to get a rickshaw. About a 100 said no. About 2 were busy bribing a cop. And the one rickshaw that I took agreed to take me half way, without the meter working for double the price. Icing on the cake, eh?
Oh, did I mention that at one point the traffic was so bad I had to get off and walk 2-3 kilometers to get where I had to in time. Choco chips on the icing on the cake, na? Not yet. The cherry on the choco chips on the icing on the cake was that I was called "Rasmalai" by some random guy on the street. [I used to like rasmalais, bummer. :( ]
So to get somewhere in the city I have to brave rickshaw wallahs, slower than a slug traffic, foul language and vehicles,sauchalays and garbage filling my nostrils. Parfait! I don't want to talk about what we SHOULD or COULD do about these rickshaw wallahs or traffic issues (saving that for a later post maybe. Teehee).
But at the end of the day I feel bad about abusing a city I love so much. I feel bad when I want/have to take my car out and add more carbon monoxide to the air instead of being Eco-friendly and taking public transport. Forms chain reactions, doesn't it? What to do?
Hope to find some answers. And less traffic.
Au revoir!
Miss Bee.
I tweet on: http://twitter.com/#!/devikabharadwaj
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