Let me make inroads into ROADS!! For all those who have less time, don’t worry, my attention span is not more than 10 minutes. I can’t remember any instance in my life where I have concentrated for more than 15 minutes at a stretch. Conversely, if I find a thing interesting enough to pay attention to (that’s as rare as Hailey’s comet), then I tend to remember that for the rest of my life.
One such rare occurrence happened in school when my geography teacher was teaching something about Indian states. She said, “The ratio of the roads to the total area of the state of Kerala is 11 times better than that of Madhya Pradesh (M.P)” and she related that to the literacy levels. I found the observation pretty interesting and it has stayed in my head ever since. I will come back to this later.
Now that I have completed my education (don’t mistake it for knowledge), my day is all about going to office, coming back and sleeping. The distance from my house to office by road is about 40 kms, I am sure it’s less than that. However, if I take a bus, it would take me around an hour and a half to reach home. I happened to talk to my friend in the US once and he said he travels more than what I do, in terms of. However, the time he takes is a mere one- fourth of what I do. As a result, he has enough time to relax, and has enough energy left to spend the night with his girlfriend. (on skype I mean… don’t get any ideas).
What about the people in Mumbai like me? I am zapped of all energy and enthusiasm by the time I reach home… so are the many Mumbaikars like me. Imagine a scenario if we could have had freeways here, I could reach home at least an hour early and pursue some interesting hobby but that not being the case leads to frustration, and in general not much left in you by the time you reach home. This frustration, I am sure, creeps into the life of people who face a similar plight day in and day out and definitely sows the seeds for some unhappiness. Did you ever believe “Good Roads could lead to a peaceful life?” If not, what’s your take on it now?
Let me go back to the example given by my geography teacher. The literacy rate in Kerala is almost 100%, MP is nowhere close. The fact that there are developed roads plays an important role in the development of these states and ensures an educated next generation.
Recently, I read an article in the Mumbai Mirror (A popular daily newspaper in Mumbai); that a pregnant lady lost her child because the Auto she was in ran into a pothole. So, beware, these road can be dangerous for your life. I believe it’s high time, the concerned authorities and the government understand the plight and improve the condition of road in India, even the smallest cities and towns should ensure this infrastructure as India stands on the crossroads of becoming the fastest progressing nation and the most attractive investment destination. I think, good roads mark the road to our progress as a nation but unfortunately this road to success is still under construction.
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