Breathe In Breathe Out

The city of Gurgaon is full of life. People, traffic, malls make the best out of this city. Which brings me to the question, what does the city of gurgaon doesn’t have?

It will not require extensive research or data analysis to figure it out. Take a walk down any road in gurgaon and the reeking waste lying brazenly out in the open will confirm the shortage of dustbins in the city.

Gurgaon is a hub of IT industries, a world class city where land prices shot sky high over the years. A city where everyone is busy running late to their office, constructing multi storey apartments, offices and a new metro line, so much is going on these days in gurgaon that nobody cares about the dustbins anymore.

Wind will take care of all the garbage in the city. We hope that one day a blizzard would blow away all the waste lying on the sidewalks.

Foreseeing the danger ahead, I have joined a breathing class where we practice on how we can hold our breath for a long period of time. The course is great and I have improved my breathing. As it is said “Practise makes a man perfect”.

Travelling from Sikanderpur metro station to Cyber greens in gurgaon, a car is the safest choice otherwise join the “Breathe in, Breathe out” classes; they offer corporate discount too.

It’s amazing how fast things change and when they don’t, they rot. Just last month while going to office (taking a rickshaw from metro station to cyber greens), I notice the pile of junk lying on the sidewalk and maybe someday someone will actually notice the trash before it becomes the next Mount Everest. One month passed and the pile of junk is still here, but something is different today, I can feel it in the air, this awful stench is an addition to the crown; it smells like a graveyard of a thousand rats.

Earlier I was able to hold my breath for 2 long minutes so that the rickshaw I am travelling on could pull through, but due to Metro construction, traffic jam has made my life or should I say the life of people travelling on rickshaw, bicycle and foot miserable.

Due to the heavy traffic you may get stuck at that exact spot for as long as 10-15 minutes and there is nothing you can do about it. Here is a 5 fold (not to be confused with legs folding technique) technique I come up with to pull you through such reeking spectacle:

1.  Join “Breathe in and Breathe out” classes. Their three month crash course guarantees that you will be able to hold your breath for 5 long minutes.
2. Change your route.
3. Bring a handkerchief soaked in Clive Christian.
4. Buy a car.
5. Carry a portable oxygen cylinder.

However there is another solution to this problem, if Municipal Corporation of gurgaon takes care of this pile of junk, but the million dollar question is “Is there a Municipal Corporation in gurgaon?” Looking at the condition of roads, city’s infrastructure and garbage, I doubt so.

But if we come to think of it how did this huge pile of junk come into existence in the first place?

Who is responsible for this? Is it the educated, uneducated, lower, middle or upper class? Is that my McDonalds’ chocolate shake cup in the pile? The one I threw away yesterday when no one was looking as I was tired of carrying it all the way with no dustbin in sight.

There is the problem, there are no dustbins in the city, nobody is going to carry things all the way to their home to throw them in the dustbin, as they believe the world is their oyster...err...dustbin. Even the educated ones do so. In my defence I threw that cup in a pile of junk, if Municipal Corporation ever decides to clean the city they can easily spot a pile of trash, as it is nothing but a dustbin minus the plastic body.

Municipal Corporation should set up dustbins around the crowded places, at least each bin being in line of sight with the other. With dustbin in sight, people won’t throw the trash on the sidewalks. But setting up a few dustbins won’t solve the problem unless a round the clock service is started to empty those bins otherwise those dustbins would soon be over flooded and becoming a part of the trash.

Let’s make this city a better place to live in as the crash course or even the foundation course of “Breathe in Breathe out” is not the best solution though the instructor is a hottie.

http://youthonhealth.com/breathe-in-breathe-out/

Rs.5 / Rs.10

When drastic geographic and political changes were taking place in the Middle East, a small city in India was on its way to a small financial change. The price of an auto ride from Sector 56 to Sikanderpur metro station shot up, the fare doubled overnight. Earlier, one was able to cover the 7.7 km stretch at Rs 5/- but now have to pay Rs 10/-. The change may sound undersized but a hike of double the amount is worth looking into.

Once upon a time:

Those who are unaware of the geographic location of Gurgaon, sector 56 of Gurgaon is connected to Sikanderpur Metro station by a 7.7 km stretch known as the DLF Golf Course road. There are two modes of public transport; a public auto – I came up with this term because there are two types of auto – a private auto and a public auto. The small green and yellow private auto charge anywhere between Rs 80 to Rs 150; depends on how lucky you are while bargaining.

The public auto used to charge Rs 5 for a one way trip and so did the local bus. Those who have to travel every day prefer  a public transport, either a bus or a public auto.

On a cold January night!

It was last week of January, during the silent chilly winters when the bomb was dropped; the fare increased two fold from Rs 5/- to Rs 10/-, the impact was felt on the pockets of daily commuters.

Who are these daily commuters?

The people who got affected are the daily commuters, which includes people from the upper middle class, lower middle class and lower class. It is a mix of employees working at the multinational companies to workers working at the construction sites.

Statistics:

On an average an auto during its one way trip from Sector 56 to Sikanderpur metro station carry four people, while on the journey back the autowallas wait till every seat in the auto has been occupied, pushing the count thirteen.

Let us assume that an auto starts its routine from 7 am in the morning till 8 pm. In a span of 13 hours, it takes anywhere between 20 min to 30 min depending on the traffic to get from one place to another. On an average an auto would make 11 round trips considering lunch breaks and waiting period and would take 204 passengers on the ride of their life.

So clearly increasing the fare from Rs 5/- to Rs 10/- is profitable. But things are not as easy as they seem as we haven’t factored a lot of things. Let’s have a look at them one by one.

Time:

When the rate was Rs 5/-, everybody took the ride as this was the cheapest mode of transport, unless you are hitchhiking. But when the price shot up to Rs 10/-, some preferred going by the bus as the fare was still Rs 5/-. The autos now have to wait much longer to fill it to capacity, hence lesser trips than projected.

Some said No:

As discussed in the previous paragraph, people working at construction sites, as domestic help or who cannot afford to pay double the amount opt out of their usual auto ride. They preferred bus over auto.

Altercations:

We have to consider the altercations that takes place between the customers and the auto driver when customers refuse to pay double the usual fare, as the payment is to be made at the end of the journey, such cases are plenty.

Rs 10/- for a journey from sector 56 to Sikanderpur may sound reasonable but sometimes people do not go all the way, sometimes they get on and get down somewhere in between the 7.7 km stretch, it is during these short trips, altercations are affluent.

The impact of the price change on the people:

The middle class: People falling under this bracket were not affected by the price change. It gave them more space in the auto at least during one way of the journey.

India is a crowded place with millions of people using daily transport, shoulder to shoulder we stand, and shoulder to shoulder we travel, but with the price hike the middle class do not have to deal with the poor anymore as the two are always at the loggerheads.

This price did take a serious blow on people for whom every rupee counts.

Impact on other modes of transport:

The bus services saw a surge in their intake as people who earlier took an auto instead of a bus (the frequency of autos is higher than bus), now opted for bus services. The over flooded bus reminds me of the picture where Mountain blue birds carry a whale whenever the social networking site twitter goes over capacity. Due to the overcapacity, bus takes double the time it used to take. With the present hike, the bus services are certainly not at loss here.

But there has been a transition of people from bus to auto, people who couldn’t stand the slow speed and crowd, they are better off paying the extra Rs 5/-

How much it actually costs:

An average person works for 24 days in a month, he goes to office in the morning and comes back late in the evening, for his one way trip everyday for the whole month he has to pay Rs 240/- more. Is it that big a deal, for many it is!

Was it the right decision?

Financially yes, in my point of view the decision has been right. The hike in prices from Rs 5/- to Rs 10/- has been a good move economically for the both the auto drivers and the bus services.
The future.

Will the balance be restored? It is a question on everybody’s mind. Will there be a price hike in bus services. Till now there are just two transport facilities available, buses and auto, metro is still not in the picture for another 4 years or so. A price hike in bus services would restore the imbalance of crowd , this would be a win-win situation for the autowallas as they would get their customers back, but people will have to pay the price unless they can learn how to fly, get good jobs (so they don’t have to worry about the money) or walk 7.7 km.