[sustran] Re: Indian roads - planes, cows, elephants, mosques

[Zvi Leve]

Carlos,

I have enjoyed very much reading VS Naipul 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VS_Naipul>'s books about India. He is a 
well-known writer of 'travel literature' (he recently won the Nobel 
prize for literature) and has a very good perception of cultural issues. 
He is of Indian descent, but has never lived in India, although he has 
travelled there extensively. I have read his books Among the Believers: 
An Islamic Journey 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Among_the_Believers:_An_Islamic_Journey>, 
which is about his travels in the Islamic areas of Asia (including India 
and Pakistan), and also India: A Million Mutinies Now 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India:_A_Million_Mutinies_Now>, which is 
only about India. I think that he has newer material about these areas 
as well. He is very opinionated and not everyone appreciates his views, 
but I think that he is an excellent writer.

One of these days I hope to make it over there myself....

Best regards,

Zvi

Madhav Badami, Prof. wrote:
> Dear Carlos,
>  
> Once the craziness of the academic term comes to an end, I promise a 
> detailed response to Jonathan Richmond's (and others') postings on the 
> situation in India (and what we can and ought to do about it). I will 
> try and work elephants, cows and yoga  -- but not planes -- into my 
> response as well :-). Meanwhile, I will leave you with this personal 
> viewpoint ... India is like life itself -- joyous, sometimes sublime, 
> and at the very same time, very messy, even obscene, but never ever 
> dull and boring. 
>  
> Madhav
>  
> ************************************************************************
>  
> "As for the future, your task is not to foresee, but to enable it."
> Antoine de Saint-Exupery
>  
> Madhav G. Badami, PhD
> School of Urban Planning and McGill School of Environment McGill 
> University Macdonald-Harrington Building
> 815 Sherbrooke Street West
> Montreal, QC, H3A 2K6, Canada
>  
> Phone: 514-398-3183 (Work); 514-486-2370 (Home)
> Fax: 514-398-8376; 514-398-1643
> URLs: www.mcgill.ca/urbanplanning <http://www.mcgill.ca/urbanplanning>
> www.mcgill.ca/mse <http://www.mcgill.ca/mse>
> e-mail: madhav.badami at mcgill.ca <mailto:madhav.badami at mcgill.ca>
>  
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *From:* 
> sustran-discuss-bounces+madhav.g.badami=mcgill.ca at list.jca.apc.org 
> [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+madhav.g.badami=mcgill.ca at list.jca.apc.org] 
> *On Behalf Of *Carlos F. Pardo
> *Sent:* Friday, May 04, 2007 9:42 AM
> *To:* Global 'South' Sustainable Transport
> *Subject:* [sustran] Indian roads - planes, cows, elephants, mosques
>
> We had the chance to be in India (Delhi, Chandigarh, Pune) last week, 
> working in a BRT training course with the SUTP project, ITDP and World 
> Bank (which was very useful). Parallel to the workshop I would go 
> walking around to see these cities. This news from a plane in the 
> middle of a road reminded me of some other issues I saw:
>
> - A mosque as wide as the sidewalk (Delhi), "blocking" the way for 
> pedestrians,
> - An elephant walking on a major arterial,
> - The typical cows in roundabouts or roads,
> - The classic situation of the "chaotic" Indian intersection.
>
> This has all made me think deeper about the recent discussion started 
> by J. Richmond. Is it institutions? Is it a deeply culturally rooted 
> characteristic of Indians? Is it religion, yoga or whatever? I bought 
> a book on Indian culture which I've started reading to see if I find 
> any answers. I would really like to hear from people in India their 
> point of view on why they think this happens. Being from Colombia, I'm 
> completely lost trying to understand this.
>
> Best regards,
> Carlos 
>
>
> Roselle Rivera wrote:
>>
>> *
>> something (amusing/very bothering?) on transport.
>>  Bad and irresponsible planning? or planned tourist attraction?
>> *
>>
>>
>> ** The Boeing 737 stuck in city road **
>> Residents of the Indian city of Mumbai (Bombay) are wondering how 
>> long it will take to remove a disused Boeing 737 that has been 
>> abandoned in a busy road.
>> < http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/6620461.stm >
>>
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>>
>> ROSELLE LEAH K RIVERA
>> PhD Fellow
>> Human Resource and Local Development Staff Group
>>
>> Institute of Social Studies
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