Once upon a time, during the heydays of the Cold War, it used to be said that the USSR is a mystery inside a puzzle within an enigma. If one has to describe the pedestrian problems in a similar vein, one would have to say that pedestrian problems are difficulties piled upon troubles that precariously balance themselves atop an Everest of bothers. Yes, being a pedestrian is a proper headache, not to forget the pain in the feet, tendons, legs, and that posterior part of our body, yes, the 'backside', that the Indian English users rather love.
Don't you believe me? Okay! Try using what Indian English calls 'footpath', that is to say, if that strip, narrower than the Gaza strip, exists at all. Well, it is equally, if not more, fraught with wartime woes. To begin with, the feel you get can beat the moon walk, both of the Neil Armstrong and Michael Jackson varieties. Truly tough! Any number of sudden craters, the slippery sand pored to hide the last/latest dig up doing its job most efficiently, the gravel full of leftovers of all sorts, that is the kerb for you!
Well, as and when it exists, it is always occupied by the roadside shoppies, sellers and their enthu buyers busy haggling. Do not want to believe me? Okay, visit the FC road any day any time. Veggie venders occupy every other 'roadside' the same way so much so that bang opposite the MMCC,there is an informal set-up, most probably to initiate the students in to their future of household chores! Quite some effect of the NEP principles that education better be relevant to life, one must say.
Oh, yes, how can you forget the thundering- without-silencers mobikes zooming past you as the richie rich owners seem to think that every inch of the busy road is their precious birthright. Who cares how precarious it is for the pedestrians!
Ah, yes, the zebra stripes that should help one cross the road. They are as extinct as real zebras! The motor vehicle act apparently teaches the drivers that the red light area is dangerous, to be avoided! No wonder, they never stop there! In fact, their speed crosses every limit at that very spot. Naturally, any pedestrian who loves her life has to wait eternally at the crossroads. No, there is no road less chosen, thank you, Mr. Frost, however much one loves your poems!
Well, in brief, if you want a feel of "swarg dwar apavrtum", that is, the door of the heaven wide open, try that hellish experiment, being a pedestrian beside a busy road!
Pratima@Pedestrian problems pore finally on the road, to become more gruesome in the process! And, less said the better about the skywalks and the subways!
May be, you never leave the doorstep of your house without the vehicle keys. Even then, you can understand the pedestrian woes which, in your own way, you suffer as the driver of your vehicle!
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