I saw something that caught my interest today. A white couple bicycling down M.G. Road. They were oblivious to the blatant stares that were shot their way. They were in India. Everyone stares at foreigners here. Even I will admit doing the same occasionally. I may be educated and well-mannered, but I still have some amount of the 'Indian' mentality.
However in this case, I wasn’t staring because they were foreign. I found it weird that they would choose to bicycle down M.G.Road of all roads in Bangalore. The largest amount of pollution is emitted from that one road in the city. So why on earth would anyone in their right senses do something like that?
If you’re riding around in Cubbon Park with lush green, overcast foliage or with Ulsoor Lake on one side, I’ll understand. But in peak afternoon heat, traffic and pollution, I’d label you crazy.
They might have been environmentalists, wanting to prove a point. Who knows? They were still damaging their health in their effort to save the environment.
What confounds me here is the reason behind the choice they made- showing others how to save the environment while risking their own health.
Then again, maybe they were just plain batty.
For the time being however, I shook my head in disbelief, contempt and cynicism. Simultaneously my auto driver cranked up his lever, started his vehicle which bellowed out smoke into the atmosphere, proceeded to sing loudly to the tunes his radio blasted out, and spat out from his mouth a large blob of saliva combined with the remnants of his chewed up paan.
The idiosyncrasies of life.
xoxo
P
I think it makes a difference, like one person in a country of over a billion casting his or her vote makes a difference. And cycling in the pollution isn't going to hurt you any more than driving through it, I guess...
ReplyDeleteI'd have liked to see a more methodical contrasting between the cyclists and the auto, but that's just me. :-)