Four months, unbelievable! And this will probably be last post of the year too… My New Year resolution should most decidedly be to write more regularly!
Two things made me come back to this rather neglected piece of cyberspace… the first was some genuine appreciation showered, quite undeservedly, especially in light of my recent disappearance, of this blog by a friend I met after a good 10 years, at a college reunion. The other was an observation I couldn’t help making while traveling in the Delhi Metro.
I love the Delhi Metro… this city badly needs better public transport, and having seen how well trains work in Mumbai, I always thought the Metro would be a great idea for Delhi. Don’t get me wrong, I have no idea whether it is the ‘ideal’ solution, nor do I know whether all the people displaced or otherwise affected by the Metro have been adequately compensated. What I do know is that the trains are fast, and they criss cross the city connecting the farthest corners, making traveling much easier (and yes, this is relatively speaking, have you ever tried getting onto the buses in Delhi?) So in that sense, the Metro is fantastic.
Besides, having travelled to Japan, and extensively in the trains there, I have realized how well a good train network can work. So what’s irking me? The design of the train! I find it strange that in a country like India, with the number of people that take public transport, the jokers have provided exactly one rod with handles to hold onto in the centre of the train. So of course the vast majority of the people do balancing acts and fall over each other every time the train starts and stops. I can imagine providing such few handles in other countries where there may not be as many people per train. But here? In Delhi? Its criminal! Haven’t they learnt anything from the Mumbai locals? I just don’t understand this lack of basic design sensibility… there is something like adapting to context! Is someone from the Delhi Metro listening?
