remember the old days u were mesmerised by those little insects with beautiful printed wings that fluttered from flower to flower in search of neactar. n how u wished to touch its velvety wings and caress them in hands. hoping that u gently tryied to get hold of it and lo! its gone...n the chase begins...u chase it all over the place and ur friends join u in the race n the butterfly fluttered all around and its panic mused u.
now those memories remain as memories. u no longer see those butterflies in ur garden nor in ur neighbourhood!!! u dont find them happily drinking nectar from flowers and those beautiful winged friends are no longer the city kid's friends when matched to playstations and animated videos.
but its a pity to know that the disappearance of butterfly is not because of televison or internet but attributed to a greater villain called the pollution. the climatic conditions have been altered so much so that the butterflies no longer could adapt to the atmospheric changes. moreover, mushrooming of apartments and loss of free green land and free compounds have forced them to search greener pastures.
another factor is the economic point of view of the butterflies! there has been a substantial decrease in the supply of flowers. yeah, technically speaking, we have been importing flowers from tamil nadu.true.so human demand for flowers has increased.so have the butterfly's! but the only problem is they want it fresh.direct from plant. but we humans have so fond of dead fraozen items that we should be called scavengers instead of omnivores.so the supply of fresh flowers became a problem for them in city so they moved on to the nearest available forests(may be very a long distance for them) in search of flowers. since distance became a problem for them, they settled in there and said goodbye to the city. as a result, butterflies has now became an animated reality for the kids of this generation. and those winged friends of yesteryears have confined themselves to the books of a kindergarden student.
B for butterfly!
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Traffic woes
Much has been said and almost nothing done about the traffic woes in Cochin. As someone who uses public transport frequently, I have always found it irritating that I have to wait inside the bus for half an hour or more than that to pass a stretch of maybe less than 500 m. One thought that has always come across my mind is to get off the bus, forego the passenger fare that I paid, and walk to my destination. But, thanks to the pathetic situation of pavements(if there are) and reckless drivers I refrain from doing so. Much of this problem has been aggravated by the presence of numerous private vehicles. I do not get the point of using a personal vehicle, if the average speed that you can drive at is a mere 10-20 km/hr, or even less than that. Car pooling and such measures have always been suggested, but it doesnt work out most of the time, because of a lack of voluntary nature.
What is the other alternative then? Enforcing. When something is imposed on you, you always follow it.Because there is no question of what if I don't or why should I. It is always you should, because the law says so. That is the only choice you have. Well, now how would that fit into solving traffic problems and providing comfortable travel? Radical as it may sound, what we can do is impose a traffic free road. And it is not like it hasn't been done before. Many roads in New York City have successfully implemented the same.
It enables a safe atmosphere. And in a way, it also acts as a solution to the problem of pollution as well. Furthermore, such systems always cater to the need for a public space. It satiates the people's desire for a public space, where they can relax, engage in fun filled activities and so on. The presence of such a public space can even boost the economy in the particular area. Well, solving traffic problems to boosting the local economy. Doesn't sound bad, does it? But what must not be forgotten is that such a process should integrate itself to the rest of the city. It cannot be executed in isolation, as it would backfire, increasing the traffic by manifolds elsewhere.
Tailpiece: A Radio Jockey seemed to have a better solution to the aforementioned delay problem. To quote her, " If you face the problem of getting late due to traffic, try starting your journey well in advance!!"
What is the other alternative then? Enforcing. When something is imposed on you, you always follow it.Because there is no question of what if I don't or why should I. It is always you should, because the law says so. That is the only choice you have. Well, now how would that fit into solving traffic problems and providing comfortable travel? Radical as it may sound, what we can do is impose a traffic free road. And it is not like it hasn't been done before. Many roads in New York City have successfully implemented the same.
It enables a safe atmosphere. And in a way, it also acts as a solution to the problem of pollution as well. Furthermore, such systems always cater to the need for a public space. It satiates the people's desire for a public space, where they can relax, engage in fun filled activities and so on. The presence of such a public space can even boost the economy in the particular area. Well, solving traffic problems to boosting the local economy. Doesn't sound bad, does it? But what must not be forgotten is that such a process should integrate itself to the rest of the city. It cannot be executed in isolation, as it would backfire, increasing the traffic by manifolds elsewhere.
Tailpiece: A Radio Jockey seemed to have a better solution to the aforementioned delay problem. To quote her, " If you face the problem of getting late due to traffic, try starting your journey well in advance!!"
Monday, May 25, 2009
Vyttila...The Junction of Chaos!
Vyttila is the largerst junction in Kerala. The traffic system roots in Vyttila. This junction is the central nervous system of Kochi. It is from here that you deviate to your destination. Be it towards the MG Road for shopping via Kadavantra or towards Edapally and beyond dashing through the national highway or enroute the palaces of kochi kingdom in Tripunithura or heading to the dead end of Fort Kochi via Kundanoor bye-pass, you have to inevitably touch Vytila.
It is of so commercial as well as strategic importance but it is sad to know that there is no proper bus stop towards the Tripunithura route from Vytilla. It is always so crowded at the place where the bus stops and buses stop wherever they want and that too near to the crossing. There should be a proper bus stop at Vytilla which should be atleast 100m away from the signal so that there wont be overcrowding of private buses.
It is of so commercial as well as strategic importance but it is sad to know that there is no proper bus stop towards the Tripunithura route from Vytilla. It is always so crowded at the place where the bus stops and buses stop wherever they want and that too near to the crossing. There should be a proper bus stop at Vytilla which should be atleast 100m away from the signal so that there wont be overcrowding of private buses.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Well, it seems a contradiction that the state with greatest number of literate citizens has so many people who are unable to read a small sign board. What else can possibly be the reason behind cars and rickshaws being parked under signs that say "No Parking" ??
Today I was walking along M.G. Road, for a stretch of maybe 1.5 kms. At the first No Parking sign, a car was parked right under it. It might as well have been an occasional thing, perhaps happening seldom. However, what I saw at the rest of the signs say a different story. Out of the five signs that I saw, almost all of them had vehicles parked under them. At one particular place, the sign is actually only a few meters away from a pay and park facility. In addition, to make things all the more difficult, the 1.5 km stretch that I walked, had cars parked through out, on both sides of M.G.Road. So much so, that the sides of the road look like parking areas.
Today I was walking along M.G. Road, for a stretch of maybe 1.5 kms. At the first No Parking sign, a car was parked right under it. It might as well have been an occasional thing, perhaps happening seldom. However, what I saw at the rest of the signs say a different story. Out of the five signs that I saw, almost all of them had vehicles parked under them. At one particular place, the sign is actually only a few meters away from a pay and park facility. In addition, to make things all the more difficult, the 1.5 km stretch that I walked, had cars parked through out, on both sides of M.G.Road. So much so, that the sides of the road look like parking areas.
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