I have decided. I am going to buy a Car.
Why don't I own a car?
For a long time now, I have been reluctant to go ahead and buy a car. I can very well afford a small one. So money was not an issue. I had other concerns.
Have you seen the movie "Mumbai Meri Jaan"? If you have, then you will remember the character played by Madhavan? I am somewhat like that character. I travel by public transport - sub-urban train, bus, and sometimes, an auto-rickshaw. It is hectic, yes, but one can live with them. We city-dwellers have to live and do the best with what we have got.
My reasons for avoiding owning of a car:
- I support the environmental cause.
- I hate waiting in traffic.
- And I am afraid of accidents.
For a long time now, whenever I travel to office via the roadways, and the bus gets stuck up in traffic, one of the main reasons I see for the congestion is the four-wheelers.
The number of four-wheelers daily commuting the Mumbai roads has increased exponentially in the past few years.
If you notice, a car which can easily accommodate 4 passengers will contain, on an average, only one or two. In an ever-so-fast-expanding city with ever-so-limited space, such extravagant luxury is a criminal waste of road-space.
We cannot easily widen existing roads fast enough, in a city which is already running out of living space. The number of privately owned vehicles keep increasing faster than the speed of upcoming new infrastructure projects.
Moreover the amount of pollution that these vehicles belch out into the adulterated city air and the amount of limited natural resources like petrol and diesel that they eat up daily is another matter altogether.
Go have a walk along the road sometime. You will temporarily go mad or deaf or both with the sound of engines and horns. The private vehicle owner will drive and honk as if his father owns the road.
All these thoughts piss me off. And for all these reasons, I have been against buying a vehicle of my own.
But now I have changed my mind. The reason is something that happened to me yesterday... [I will come back to this soon]
Auto-Rickshaw a blessing? - think again...
In Mumbai, if one says that Train or Bus travel is convenient or comfortable, then that someone is telling the biggest lie of the millennium. The only other comfortable and convenient means of transport left for an average Mumbai common-man is an Auto-Rickshaw.
But now-a-days, this three-wheeler saviour of the travelling Mumbaikar is not so easy to come by.
Sure, one will find so many of these little black three-wheeled "bugs" teeming the streets of Mumbai. But how do you get to travel in one?
Steps to catch a Rick
1> Try to find an empty rickshaw.
- You will realize that you have your work cut out for you. Time was when people used to prefer walking and saving money. And auto-rickshaws were less in number yet always readily available to the needy few. Time has now come, when everyone wants to travel fast; no one wants to walk; everyone seems to be able to afford a rick-ride; and there are so many rickshaws, yet so few empty / available ones.
2> Ok, you manage to spot an empty rickshaw. Now try to stop it.
- The rickshaw-wala (driver) will either nod a negative or simply ignore you, and move on... I remember a time not so long back, when an auto-rickshaw driver was a most eager host always ready to serve. But the new-age rickshaw-wala is a care-free creature with a will of his own. He will not care if he does not have a fare right now. He is sure to get a desirable fare sooner or later. And the worst part about all this is that the auto-richwshaw-wala is right!!!
3> Viola! You have managed to stop the Rick. Now try to get the Rickshaw-wala to agree to give you a ride.
- Times have changed fast. It is not you who decides where the rickshaw will go. It is the rickshaw-driver who will decide where he wishes to go. If your destination happens to be the same as his, then you are lucky. Otherwise, there are other ideal "Fare"s waiting for the rickshaw-wala.
It is true that as a Mumbaikar, I have to put up with many injustices of life. But such denial-of-service by an auto-rickshaw-wala is something difficult for me to swallow.
What happened to me yesterday and how it changed my mind
I usually put up with the crowd in the bus. I also patiently wait in the bus in traffic. And if the crowd and the traffic become too much for me, I simply get down and walk (my old faithful one-two routine never fails me). But my Mom is not as lucky as I am. She suffers from arthritis, plus an injured ligament in one leg. This makes it difficult for her to walk and almost impossible to travel in crowded buses and trains. The only other option left for her is a rick.
Now coming back to what happened to me yesterday...
Yesterday, my Mom was on her way back from Pune. After travelling for nearly 4 hours, her legs were sore and she was in pain.
She got down along the highway in Goregaon (East). I picked her up from there. The highway is 20-25 mins normal walking distance away from the Goregaon railway station. We stay on the other side of the railway tracks (West). So, we had to find a rick for Mom to reach home comfortably. We waited and waited. But not a single Rickshaw-wala agreed to give us a ride.
At last, we decided to start walking. It was difficult for Mom, but we had no choice. The road from the highway to the Goregaon station was jammed with traffic. And an empty rickshaw was nowhere to be seen.
We reached the station, crossed over the bridge to the west side and walked all the way to our home.
On the way, I had a row with a rickshaw-wala who refused to give us a ride even though he did not have a fare. The rickshaw-wala won of course...
It was at that moment that I decided that I will buy a car.
I no longer care for the environment.
The parking problems of Mumbai are no longer my concern.
I am least bothered about the scarcity of fuel, the air and noise pollution caused by cars or the increasing traffic problems.
I am not even afraid of accidents - of getting killed or getting someone else killed...
All I am afraid of now is to be unable to find a convenient transport when me or my loved ones need it.
Thats what I am afraid of most now-a-days...
And hence I have decided to go buy a car...
Why don't I own a car?
For a long time now, I have been reluctant to go ahead and buy a car. I can very well afford a small one. So money was not an issue. I had other concerns.
Have you seen the movie "Mumbai Meri Jaan"? If you have, then you will remember the character played by Madhavan? I am somewhat like that character. I travel by public transport - sub-urban train, bus, and sometimes, an auto-rickshaw. It is hectic, yes, but one can live with them. We city-dwellers have to live and do the best with what we have got.
My reasons for avoiding owning of a car:
- I support the environmental cause.
- I hate waiting in traffic.
- And I am afraid of accidents.
For a long time now, whenever I travel to office via the roadways, and the bus gets stuck up in traffic, one of the main reasons I see for the congestion is the four-wheelers.
The number of four-wheelers daily commuting the Mumbai roads has increased exponentially in the past few years.
If you notice, a car which can easily accommodate 4 passengers will contain, on an average, only one or two. In an ever-so-fast-expanding city with ever-so-limited space, such extravagant luxury is a criminal waste of road-space.
We cannot easily widen existing roads fast enough, in a city which is already running out of living space. The number of privately owned vehicles keep increasing faster than the speed of upcoming new infrastructure projects.
Moreover the amount of pollution that these vehicles belch out into the adulterated city air and the amount of limited natural resources like petrol and diesel that they eat up daily is another matter altogether.
Go have a walk along the road sometime. You will temporarily go mad or deaf or both with the sound of engines and horns. The private vehicle owner will drive and honk as if his father owns the road.
All these thoughts piss me off. And for all these reasons, I have been against buying a vehicle of my own.
But now I have changed my mind. The reason is something that happened to me yesterday... [I will come back to this soon]
Auto-Rickshaw a blessing? - think again...
In Mumbai, if one says that Train or Bus travel is convenient or comfortable, then that someone is telling the biggest lie of the millennium. The only other comfortable and convenient means of transport left for an average Mumbai common-man is an Auto-Rickshaw.
But now-a-days, this three-wheeler saviour of the travelling Mumbaikar is not so easy to come by.
Sure, one will find so many of these little black three-wheeled "bugs" teeming the streets of Mumbai. But how do you get to travel in one?
Steps to catch a Rick
1> Try to find an empty rickshaw.
- You will realize that you have your work cut out for you. Time was when people used to prefer walking and saving money. And auto-rickshaws were less in number yet always readily available to the needy few. Time has now come, when everyone wants to travel fast; no one wants to walk; everyone seems to be able to afford a rick-ride; and there are so many rickshaws, yet so few empty / available ones.
2> Ok, you manage to spot an empty rickshaw. Now try to stop it.
- The rickshaw-wala (driver) will either nod a negative or simply ignore you, and move on... I remember a time not so long back, when an auto-rickshaw driver was a most eager host always ready to serve. But the new-age rickshaw-wala is a care-free creature with a will of his own. He will not care if he does not have a fare right now. He is sure to get a desirable fare sooner or later. And the worst part about all this is that the auto-richwshaw-wala is right!!!
3> Viola! You have managed to stop the Rick. Now try to get the Rickshaw-wala to agree to give you a ride.
- Times have changed fast. It is not you who decides where the rickshaw will go. It is the rickshaw-driver who will decide where he wishes to go. If your destination happens to be the same as his, then you are lucky. Otherwise, there are other ideal "Fare"s waiting for the rickshaw-wala.
It is true that as a Mumbaikar, I have to put up with many injustices of life. But such denial-of-service by an auto-rickshaw-wala is something difficult for me to swallow.
What happened to me yesterday and how it changed my mind
I usually put up with the crowd in the bus. I also patiently wait in the bus in traffic. And if the crowd and the traffic become too much for me, I simply get down and walk (my old faithful one-two routine never fails me). But my Mom is not as lucky as I am. She suffers from arthritis, plus an injured ligament in one leg. This makes it difficult for her to walk and almost impossible to travel in crowded buses and trains. The only other option left for her is a rick.
Now coming back to what happened to me yesterday...
Yesterday, my Mom was on her way back from Pune. After travelling for nearly 4 hours, her legs were sore and she was in pain.
She got down along the highway in Goregaon (East). I picked her up from there. The highway is 20-25 mins normal walking distance away from the Goregaon railway station. We stay on the other side of the railway tracks (West). So, we had to find a rick for Mom to reach home comfortably. We waited and waited. But not a single Rickshaw-wala agreed to give us a ride.
At last, we decided to start walking. It was difficult for Mom, but we had no choice. The road from the highway to the Goregaon station was jammed with traffic. And an empty rickshaw was nowhere to be seen.
We reached the station, crossed over the bridge to the west side and walked all the way to our home.
On the way, I had a row with a rickshaw-wala who refused to give us a ride even though he did not have a fare. The rickshaw-wala won of course...
It was at that moment that I decided that I will buy a car.
I no longer care for the environment.
The parking problems of Mumbai are no longer my concern.
I am least bothered about the scarcity of fuel, the air and noise pollution caused by cars or the increasing traffic problems.
I am not even afraid of accidents - of getting killed or getting someone else killed...
All I am afraid of now is to be unable to find a convenient transport when me or my loved ones need it.
Thats what I am afraid of most now-a-days...
And hence I have decided to go buy a car...
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