Thew new toast of town is undoubtedly the Nano, or Tata Motors new 100 000 rs car! Everyone wants one: the young girl who was till date quite happy with a scooty, the three wheeler owner, the lads who have still not finished paying their EMIs for their still gleaming bikes, everyone who could never have dreamt of owning a car.
To many it is undoubtedly a huge leap in our new found economic revolution. Somehow it seems to have been linked with the shift in private transportation from bicycle, to two wheelers and now four wheelers! Recently a TV debate on the threat to environment highlighted the need for efficient public transport rather than more and more private vehicle. But who wants to hear such voices, they are party poopers and today it is party time! No one is thinking of pollution, carbon emissions, escalating costs of petrol, parking problems; everyone wants a car!
And yet everyone grumbles about the traffic snarls,the clogged roads, the polluted air that one can barely breathe, the noise pollution and the increased incidents of road rage! Our city is dying a low but sure death. But we still cut trees to widen roads, build on river banks and continue our hubristic race to what will be our nemesis blissfully unaware of the fact that one day it wil be too late!
What we need is efficient public transport, car pools and stringent laws that make us think twice before taking out our car as our collective conscience seems to have gone AWOL! WE do have a plethora of armchair environmentalists who could spin convincing spiels on our need to respect the environment but who do not bat an eye lid before taking out their 6 cylinder bolid to buy a loaf of bread from the store next door or come to think of it is our city new love for malls fuelled by our need to show of our new four wheel wonder off!
I must confess that I still slip up at times and forget to close a tap or take my cloth bag but at least I try. However I have a friend, my green guru, who will never take a car when he travels alone, even though he lives in a faraway suburb and even if he has to come for a business meeting.
I wonder what Delhi will look like with more cars.maybe it is time to move to greener pastures!
