Before I get back to developments mentioned in the previous
blog entry I would like to share my three city tour across seven modes of
transportation on World Environment Day.
I was invited to attend a workshop focusing on fuel
efficiency in Pune. The journey began at 6:15 on a Wednesday morning. I drove
myself along with family to the well known Bisleri water factory. It is a route
that requires 40 minutes devoted in evening hours, which I completed in 10
minutes.
On the Eastern side, I was to catch an AC bus that would
take me to Pune. This was the second time I was travelling to Pune by bus. The
journey is filled with greenery and mountains. En route passengers are treated
with chikki, a healthy snack bar
filled with and usually made of various dry fruits. The journey takes 3 hours
to complete and I was not going to be dropped at the exact point required.
On reaching the city I figured that it is not going to be
easy hopping onto one of the local buses. The buses did not have any indicator
on them. So I figured best to walk a few steps and get myself an auto-rickshaw.
The Google Map reading showed that I was in walking distance to Pune
University. I had wanted to get to Yashada on Baner Road. One thing is certain,
I was taken in circles. Although it was nice looking at the fine houses, trees
forming a canopy on these streets and the smooth auto ride with no pot holes.
I reached the workshop on time, at 10 minutes to 10 am.
While the workshop was a round table event and a different experience by
itself, I will keep that story for a separate entry. On completion of the
workshop I coordinated a meet with the founder of Parisar, a Pune based Civil
Society Organisation focusing on urban transport challenges facing Pune. I had
the opportunity to ride along with Mr. Sujit Patwardhan on his scooter to the
Parisar office. On entering the colony, Mr. Patwardhan shared a cold fact with
me. He mentioned that the colony has been renovated at the cost of Rs. 12
crore, a complete waste of taxpayer money. It looked very spick and span.
Next, I had to catch a flight to Delhi. Before I did, I
enjoyed a beautiful walk down a lane of the same colony. Pune airport is not
very big and hence very convenient to complete bag screening and security. I
had reached very early, one hour and a half before takeoff. The flight time is
not very long; the distance takes under two hours to complete.
On landing, it was 21:15 and not knowing that my final
destination was only 25 minutes by road I took an hour and half long metro ride
to my final destination, Saket Metro Station. The Orange line airport metro is
very spacious in comparison to metro boogies of other routes. The metro route
required me to swap at New Delhi Metro Station in order to get into the Yellow
Line to reach Saket. Once on the Yellow line, it was a trip down memory lane.
In June, 2011 I was in Delhi, travelling up and down the Yellow metro line. I
was in Delhi as part of a summer programme titled Agenda for Survival. The
final leg of the journey was also in a way to post live feed to my Agenda for
Survival friends on our Whatsapp group photos of the now so mesmerizing Yellow
line route.
In the morning, this is how I saw Saket Metro Station after
two years and a 1393 kilo meter or 865 miles stretch of journey. In my opinion
it was the most contradicting day to score such a high carbon footprint.
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