Pedestrian Privilege
It was 9 am on a weekday and here I was in Eugene, in the US state of Oregon, crossing a road. The manicured lawns were green carpets broken only by well maintained tree spaces. The neat pavements made walking a pleasure and I had been walking for many kilometers without feeling tired. Then as I came to the intersection of two roads without traffic lights, I stopped. As a good urban resident, I looked right and left and around and saw a car approaching in the distance and stopped. As the car neared the crossroads, I began to look around at the interesting houses and gardens around me. The car, an SUV, halted at the intersection. The driver rolled his window down and waved a hand at me. “Hey Lady,” he said, “Are you going to cross or not?” Totally culture shocked, I went across the road feeling like a VIP. Still in a kind of a daze I admit that I sort of hopped past quickly and the driver smiled. I thought that the driver must be one of those rare polite people. A few minutes later, I reached a busy intersection and was waiting for the “walk” sign in the pedestrian crossing. The signal was go for traffic and stop for pedestrians. A set of three cars came whizzing by. Then the moment I was joined by another pedestrian, they halted. The other walker confidently stepped out and so did I. Habituated to cars speeding up when they see a pedestrian in Bangalore, I hurried across nervously. The University student who crossed after me smiled at me and I just asked him, “Why did those cars stop for us? Wasn’t it their turn to go?” “Oh,” he replied, “In Eugene, runners, walkers and cyclists are privileged over cars!”
As I continued to saunter on the sidewalk towards the book store, I experienced the dignity of being a pedestrian. A person who has the space to walk, to cross the road and whose path is paved with level sidewalks is privileged. In the greater economy of the good earth, the walker is a low consumer of resources, a nonpolluter, not an obstruction to traffic!
In my own country, in my own Bengaluru, shady avenues and pavements are being destroyed to make way for cars or optic cables. There are no pedestrian crossings on many main roads for long distances. Improbable pavements with holes and scarred by developmental works suddenly vanish and appear at regular intervals. Even on the famous MG road! There, I know, I will pine for this dignity of walking the urban streets on a pavement. Not yet, as I am still in Eugene as I write this down. I will walk. That’s my privilege in this foreign country.
It was 9 am on a weekday and here I was in Eugene, in the US state of Oregon, crossing a road. The manicured lawns were green carpets broken only by well maintained tree spaces. The neat pavements made walking a pleasure and I had been walking for many kilometers without feeling tired. Then as I came to the intersection of two roads without traffic lights, I stopped. As a good urban resident, I looked right and left and around and saw a car approaching in the distance and stopped. As the car neared the crossroads, I began to look around at the interesting houses and gardens around me. The car, an SUV, halted at the intersection. The driver rolled his window down and waved a hand at me. “Hey Lady,” he said, “Are you going to cross or not?” Totally culture shocked, I went across the road feeling like a VIP. Still in a kind of a daze I admit that I sort of hopped past quickly and the driver smiled. I thought that the driver must be one of those rare polite people. A few minutes later, I reached a busy intersection and was waiting for the “walk” sign in the pedestrian crossing. The signal was go for traffic and stop for pedestrians. A set of three cars came whizzing by. Then the moment I was joined by another pedestrian, they halted. The other walker confidently stepped out and so did I. Habituated to cars speeding up when they see a pedestrian in Bangalore, I hurried across nervously. The University student who crossed after me smiled at me and I just asked him, “Why did those cars stop for us? Wasn’t it their turn to go?” “Oh,” he replied, “In Eugene, runners, walkers and cyclists are privileged over cars!”
As I continued to saunter on the sidewalk towards the book store, I experienced the dignity of being a pedestrian. A person who has the space to walk, to cross the road and whose path is paved with level sidewalks is privileged. In the greater economy of the good earth, the walker is a low consumer of resources, a nonpolluter, not an obstruction to traffic!
In my own country, in my own Bengaluru, shady avenues and pavements are being destroyed to make way for cars or optic cables. There are no pedestrian crossings on many main roads for long distances. Improbable pavements with holes and scarred by developmental works suddenly vanish and appear at regular intervals. Even on the famous MG road! There, I know, I will pine for this dignity of walking the urban streets on a pavement. Not yet, as I am still in Eugene as I write this down. I will walk. That’s my privilege in this foreign country.
No comments:
Post a Comment